The woman in the painting that Leonardo kept to himself until his death: Who is Mona Lisa?

Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa, which is a huge subject for art historians, is one of the most special pieces owned by Western civilization.

Leonardo da Vinci, who had many titles such as painter, sculptor, astrologer, architect, engineer, mathematician and many more, according to historical information, started to build his masterpiece Mona Lisa in 1503. Although it is thought that the Mona Lisa was actually Lisa Gherardini, a merchant's wife, Leonardo kept the portrait for himself until his death. Later, the French King François I purchased the painting from the interested parties.

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world". The painting's novel qualities include the subject's enigmatic expression, monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism.

There is another theory about who the Mona Lisa is. Some art historians agree that it is a portrait of Salai drawn by da Vinci. Salai is one of da Vinci's assistants and is known for his rebellious personality. Even though Da Vinci also painted Salai's painting, the similarity between these two figures is striking. Another view of the painting is that it is actually a combination of two faces. So half of the face belongs to Lisa and the other half belongs to Salai. This is also the reason for the interesting smile in the portrait.

This painting, which brings a concept such as the Mona Lisa smile to life, is considered one of the best works of the Renaissance period with the facial expression of the character that almost looks like it is coming to life from the canvas.

The real name of the person depicted in the Mona Lisa painting is Lisa Gherardini. Mona Lisa means "my woman Lisa".

The dimensions of the original painting are 77×53 cm.

The Mona Lisa painting has another name: La Gioconda. This name was given because Mona Lisa has the title of "Wife of Francesco del Giocondo". Although it is not certain, it is thought that Mona Lisa is actually Lisa del Giocondo.

The Mona Lisa painting does not have any insurance. The reason for this is that it is considered too valuable to be insured. So no insurance company wants to take this risk.

According to the system used in facial recognition, Mona Lisa's face has 83% happy expressions, 9% bored expressions, 6% fearful expressions and 2% angry expressions.

The Mosa Lisa painting was first sold to the King of France, Francis I (François I). Leonardo's masterpiece was exhibited at the Fontainebleau Palace at the request of the king.

Although the Mona Lisa painting has always been prioritized by art historians, it owes its global fame to the thief who stole it in 1911.

Mona Lisa is exhibited in a room specially designed for the painting in the Louvre, France's most famous museum.

Where is the Mona Lisa Painting?

The Mona Lisa painting is exhibited in the Louvre Museum in Paris, the capital of France. This painting, which is exhibited in a glass cage in its own special room, is taken out of its cage only once a year for maintenance and cleaning.

The Mona Lisa Theft: A Strange Heist

One of the speculations about the Mona Lisa painting is that it is not the original painting. The Mona Lisa painting was stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911, and this theft went unnoticed for hours. The reason for this was that the paintings in the museum were frequently taken to the studio for photo shoots by museum photographers. On August 21, 1911, it was noticed that the painting was missing. Exactly 12 hours later, it was understood that the painting was stolen when it was seen that it was still missing. Every part of the museum was searched by private detectives hired. It took exactly 1 week to search for the painting in the Louvre Museum, which is built on 49 acres of land. At the end of this period, the frame of the painting was found in a hidden room accessed by a staircase. It was confirmed that the painting was stolen...

There was no trace of the thief. The biggest art robbery in history had taken place, and it was unclear how much the painting could fetch on the black market. The Louvre Museum remained closed throughout the search process. When it opened, the number of visitors to the museum increased thanks to those who wanted to see the gap where the Mona Lisa painting was located. The incident grew and this painting became an art icon. Leonardo's Lisa was now more famous than ever...

The French Police Service and detectives from all over the world entered a race to solve the theft. A fingerprint found on the frame of the painting was the only evidence they had. After several futile efforts that yielded no results, a citizen named Honore Gery was arrested and interrogated for trying to sell a statuette he had stolen from the Louvre Museum to a reporter. After Gery admitted that he had a bag containing other figurines and that he gave this bag to his friend Pablo Picasso, the famous artist became one of the suspects. Picasso denied that he owned either the figurines or the painting, which was partly true. He had the figurines for a while, but they had nothing to do with the theft of the painting. After days of discussions, Picasso announced in a local newspaper that the statuettes would be handed over once the accusations were withdrawn. The police released Picasso, but the mystery of the figurines was never solved. The Louvre investigation is closed. It is believed that Picasso used those figurines as models in his painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon".

Two years have passed since the incident, and everyone now agrees that the painting was lost or sold on the black market. While the Louvre Museum had given up hope on the painting, a letter came to an antique dealer from Fiorentina. The letter was signed in Leonardo's name.

“I have the lost work of Leonardo da Vinci. Since Da Vinci is Italian, the painting belongs to Italy.”

Antique dealer Alfredo Geri met with the mysterious owner of the letter and checked the authenticity of the painting. The painting was original. The name of the painting thief was Vincenzo Perugia. The strange thing was that Vincenzo committed this crime not for profit, but with nationalist feelings! As for the moment of the theft... Vincenzo Perugia entered the museum beforehand and found a secluded room for himself. Since he knew the day the museum would be closed, he went to the museum the day before and spent the morning in this room. He then entered the room where the painting was located and took the painting down from the wall. He removed the frame of the painting in the room where he was hiding and hid the painting, took it out of the museum and returned to his country. It was probably an astonishing experience for him, too, that the world's most famous painting could be stolen so easily.