Find Out the Facinating Story of the World’s Most Famous Painting | The Mona Lisa at Louvre

The Mona Lisa is located inside the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Because of its high value and its global popularity, it is on display inside the biggest room of the museum, the Salle des États. You can find this room on level 1 of the Denon Wing.

In 2005, the Mona Lisa was placed inside a protective glass case, right in the center of the room. This was because of two reasons - the first being that it is one of the most famous paintings in the world and requires safekeeping and the second was because it was painted on poplar wood instead of on an oil canvas. The wood has warped over the years and even has a crack in it. To avoid further damage, the Mona Lisa is kept in a humidity and temperature-controlled glass case.

The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the early 16th century. Da Vinci was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, and scientist who is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time. 

He was born in 1452 and died in 1519, leaving behind a legacy that still inspires people to this day. He is most famous for his painting of the Mona Lisa, but he also painted other masterpieces such as The Last Supper and The Virgin of the Rocks.

The Mona Lisa is the work of renowned artist Leonardo da Vinci. He began working on this masterpiece around 1503 and took a few years to complete it. It remained in his art studio until he died in 1519, after which it was acquired by the French King Francis I. Da Vinci spent the last few years of his life in the King’s court.

It soon became a part of the royal collection of artworks and was kept in the King’s palace for centuries to come. During the French Revolution between 1787 and 1799, people began claiming that the painting was the property of the people. The painting spent some time hanging in the bedroom of Napoleon, following which it was placed inside the Louvre Museum during the 19th century.

Like most Renaissance depictions of the Virgin Mary, the Mona Lisa also bore a strong resemblance to her. The woman in the painting is seen sitting on an armchair with her hands crossed and placed on her lap. Her iconic gaze is fixed on the eyes of viewers. Da Vinci gave the painting a lifelike appearance by omitting outlines on the figure, a method known as sfumato. 

This was one of the first paintings to depict a person sitting in front of an imaginary landscape in an aerial view. She has no visible eyebrows or eyelashes, although they allegedly were present before but disappeared over time. 

Shockingly, the most famous painting in the world was stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911. A handyman named Peruggia was hired by the museum to build protective glass cases for some of its paintings, one of which was the Mona Lisa. The man hid in a nearby closet overnight, slipped the painting under his coat, and made his way out of the museum. 

After 2 years of investigation by the French police, the painting was finally discovered when Peruggia tried to set up a meeting with an art dealer in Florence. When word reached the police, Peruggia was sentenced to seven months in prison.