Leonardo da Vinci's famous work Mona Lisa, which has recently been the victim of a new action and has come to the fore again, has an important place in the history of art around the world. We have compiled for you the previous attacks and more about the painting, which has been attacked many times before.

NAME OF THE TABLE
The name "Mona Lisa" is the name of the painting, not the real name of the woman depicted in the painting. The woman, whose real name is Lisa Gherardini, is identified with the name of the painting. The word "Mona" is derived from the Italian word "Madonna" and means "Lady" or "Lady". "Lisa" is the name of the woman.

Therefore, the term "Mona Lisa" can be translated as "Miss Lisa" or "Lady Lisa". This name, used by Leonardo da Vinci while painting this painting, increased the fame of the painting and became the general name of the work.

Although there is no definitive information about the real identity of Mona Lisa, it is believed that Lisa Gherardini was a model chosen by da Vinci to paint the painting.

ALLEGEDLY DA VINCI COULD NOT FINISH THE PAINTING
When Leonardo died in 1519, it is thought that the unfinished Mona Lisa was bequeathed to his assistant. Some think that the artist may have left the painting unfinished due to a type of paralysis that impaired his manual dexterity.

However, there are many who say that this does not reflect the truth. It is said that Leonardo da Vinci completed the Mona Lisa a few years before his death in 1517.

NAPOLEON AND MONA LISA
There is an interesting connection between Napoleon Bonaparte and Mona Lisa. Napoleon was an effective leader during the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic Wars. In 1797, when Napoleon conquered Italy and captured Milan, he visited the Brera Art Gallery in Milan. Meanwhile, the Mona Lisa painting was in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

During Napoleon's Italian campaign, works of art were collected in the areas occupied by the French army and some of them were sent to the Louvre Museum. Mona Lisa was among these works. Napoleon aimed to enrich the art and culture of France, and for this purpose, he brought many important works of art to France from the regions conquered during the war.

According to some claims, the French emperor kept the Mona Lisa hanging in his bedroom in the Tuileries Palace for about four years, starting in 1800.

It is said that his fascination with the painting stemmed from his love for a beautiful Italian woman named Teresa Guadagni, who was actually a descendant of Lisa Gherardini.

SMALLER THAN THOUGHT
The Mona Lisa's impact on culture is huge, but the actual size of the oil on wood panel painting is much smaller than people imagine.

The size of the painting is 77 cm x 53 cm and it weighs only 18 kilograms.

This is a smaller size than many people previously thought.

EYEBROWS IN THE PAINTING
Some believe that the eyebrows of the woman in the Mona Lisa painting were thin and lightly drawn to represent the high-class fashion of the time.

Others insist that her eyebrows are proof that the Mona Lisa is an unfinished masterpiece.

But in 2007, ultra-detailed digital scans of the painting revealed that Leonardo had grown thicker eyebrows and eyelashes.

Both have faded over time or fallen victim to years of restoration work.

THE PAINTING YOU FELT IN LOVE WITH
According to journalist Dianne Hales in her book Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered, the portrait was first displayed publicly in the Louvre in 1815.

“A line of suitors carrying flowers, poems, and passionate notes climbed the grand staircase of the Louvre and gazed in awe at her “clear and burning eyes,” Hales writes in her book.”

According to R. A. Scotti, author of The Lost Mona Lisa, the painting "often made people do strange things. The Louvre had more than a million works of art in its collection, but only the Mona Lisa received letters."

So much so that it is said that an unknown actor could not stand the love of Mona Lisa and committed suicide by jumping from the window of a hotel room in Paris.

TOO PRICELESS
In the 1960s the painting went on tour and was given an insurance value of $100 million. (Taking into account inflation, the valuation in 2014 estimated that the painting was worth $2.5 billion) However, the Mona Lisa painting does not currently have any insurance. The reason for this is that it is considered too valuable to be insured.

No insurance company wants to take this risk.

IT IS ALSO HELD IN A CLIMATE CONTROLLED PRIVATE ROOM
Valuable works of art, such as the Mona Lisa, are often displayed in specially designed climate-controlled rooms.

These rooms ensure long-term preservation of works of art by keeping temperature, humidity, light and other environmental factors under control.

It aims to prevent paintings from being damaged by deterioration, fading or other environmental influences. During the exhibition of famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa, such rooms allow visitors to examine the work comfortably while also providing protection and security.

WHEN MONA LISA LOST, FRANCE MOURNED COLLECTIVELY
Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre on August 21, 1911. The New York Times retrospectively likened the public display of pain to that following Princess Diana's death in 1997.

Thousands of people came to the Louvre, stared in shock at the empty wall where the painting once hung, and left behind flowers and notes.

When the Mona Lisa was stolen, there was a great shock throughout France and this event caused great sadness among the public. The incident aroused great interest in the art world and the public, and the disappearance of the painting was perceived as a great tragedy.

The Louvre Museum experienced a major security breach in the days when the Mona Lisa was stolen. This led the museum to review and strengthen its security measures. After the incident, Mona Lisa was first found in Italy and then brought back to the Louvre Museum in 1914. This event increased the popularity of Mona Lisa and made the painting even more famous around the world.

PICASSO WAS A ROBBERY SUSPECT
Pablo Picasso, who was previously said to have been caught buying stolen pieces from the Louvre, was one of the suspects. However, the real thief would not be caught until 1913.

The real thief was a Louvre employee named Vincenzo Peruggia, who thought the painting belonged not to France but to Italy, his and Leonardo's homeland.

Italian nationalist Peruggia smuggled the painting by hiding it under his apron.

After hiding it for two years, Peruggia was caught trying to sell the Mona Lisa to a Florentine art dealer.

After this incident, the painting toured Italy for a short time and returned to Paris.

HE WAS NOT ALONE
There has been debate about whether Vincenzo Peruggia acted alone or with others in the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum in 1911.

Peruggia claimed that he was on his own when he stole the painting. However, some speculations and allegations that emerged after the incident suggested that Peruggia was in collaboration with other people.

Among these allegations was the idea that others might have been involved in the process of taking the stolen painting to Italy and selling it there.

It was also unlikely that he acted alone, the painting was encased in a wooden support and glass box that weighed almost 200 kilos, making it unlikely that Perugia could have removed it from the wall on his own.

Years later, a man calling himself the Marquis of Hell's Valley confessed to American reporter Karl Decker that he was the true mastermind behind the theft of the Mona Lisa.

He revealed that Peruggia was one of three men who paid a large sum of money to kidnap him, on the condition that his story be kept secret until his death.

In this way, the Marquis could sell multiple fakes of the masterpiece to collectors for exorbitant sums.

The beauty of the scam was that each buyer believed he or she had the real lost Mona Lisa.

Whether the Marquis was telling the truth about the theft is still a hotly debated issue.

IMPACT ON POPULAR CULTURE
"Society women adopted the 'La Joconde look' (named after the painting's French title), dusting their faces and necks with yellow powder to evoke its golden hue and tightening their facial muscles to mimic it," Dianne R. Hales writes in Mona Lisa: A life discovered. They immobilized him." Additionally, the incident in which the Mona Lisa was stolen and returned had a wide popular culture impact. The incident inspired many stories, songs, films and television programs written and sung.

In this way, the theft and return of the Mona Lisa has become a kind of popular culture phenomenon and has been the subject of various creative works.

MYSTERIOUS SMILE
Mona Lisa's smile can be perceived differently and have a variable quality among viewers. This is because the painting contains a smile that looks different depending on certain viewing angles and viewer positions.

In 2000, Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Margaret Livingstone applied the scientific method to why Mona Lisa's smile changed: It was all about where your focus was and how your brain responded.

Leonardo da Vinci masterfully worked on perspective and light play when painting the Mona Lisa. When viewed from a certain angle, the painting appears to be smiling, but when viewed from another angle, it may seem less obvious or completely missing.

This creates an optical illusion effect that changes depending on the viewer's perspective of the painting.

This feature contributed to Mona Lisa's mysterious expression and to keeping viewers' interest in the painting alive.

The variability of the smile has caused the interest and interpretations of the painting to change over time.

IS HE ACTUALLY ANGRY?
But a 2017 study found that most people thought he was happy.

Scientists at the University of Freiburg showed nine photographs of the painting to 12 people to determine whether the Mona Lisa's subject evoked more happiness or more sadness. One was original, while the other eight were digitally sculpted around the mouth. The photos were shuffled and shown to each participant and 97 percent said the original painting looked happy.

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.

 

HE WAS THEFT AND ATTACKED
Theft in 1911: Perhaps the most well-known incident took place in the Louvre Museum in 1911. Italian thief Vincenzo Peruggia stole the painting from the museum. Peruggia took it back to Italy and tried to sell the painting to a local art collector. However, the painting was found and returned to the Louvre Museum in 1914.

Acid Attack in 1956: In 1956, a visitor threw acid at the Mona Lisa. Fortunately, the acid attack did not cause significant damage to the painting and it could later be restored.

Glazed Stone Attack in 2009: In 2009, a visitor threw a glazed stone at the Mona Lisa's glass protection layer. There was no damage to the painting as a result of this attack. In the same year, a Russian tourist threw a cup of tea at the painting.

Cake Attack in 2022: A man disguised as an old woman in a wheelchair threw a cake at the "Mona Lisa", shouting "Think of the planet".

Finally, two protesters who demanded the right to "healthy and sustainable food" by saying "Our agricultural system is sick" threw soup on the table.

Source:https://www.ntv.com.tr/galeri/n-life/kultur-ve-sanat/mona-lisa-tablosu-hakkinda-bilnizi-gereken-15-bilgi,cRxxAKAt50mViZxSIK9Rdg/Dz-tCHGo2kST6RjdjT2oTA