Here are 19 amazing Mona Lisa facts.
1-5 Mona Lisa Facts
1. The Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyelashes or eyebrows. In 2007, an engineer used high-resolution scans to show the painting was originally painted with clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes and they gradually disappeared over time, possibly because of overcleaning. – Source
2. There’s a second Mona Lisa in Museo del Prado, Madrid, that was probably painted by one of Da Vinci’s pupils. When viewed combined with the original Mona Lisa, it can create a 3-D effect, making it the first stereoscopic image in world history. – Source
3. Pablo Picasso was questioned as a suspect when Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911. – Source
4. Leonardo Da Vinci used more than thirty layers of paint on the Mona Lisa, some of which were thinner than a human hair. – Source
5. When painting the Mona Lisa,”to keep his subject relaxed and entertained, Da Vinci had six musicians to play for her and installed a musical fountain invented by himself. Different, beautiful works were read out loud and a white Persian cat and a greyhound dog were there for her to play with.” – Source
6-10 Mona Lisa Facts
6. The Mona Lisa is not painted on canvas but on three pieces of wood roughly an inch and a half thick. – Source
7. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors, played the viola, and spent twelve years painting the Mona Lisa’s lips. – Source
8. Napoleon had the Mona Lisa hung on his bedroom wall. – Source
9. Someone made a replica of the Mona Lisa using just 50 semi-transparent polygons. – Source
10. There was an Argentinian con man who masterminded the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911, and the theft only took place to allow him to sell six separate forgeries around the world. He was never found guilty as he was technically never involved. – Source
11-15 Mona Lisa Facts
11. In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, wanting to bring the Mona Lisa back to Italy after “It was stolen by Napoleon”, simply walked in the Louvre, lifted off the painting, took it to a nearby service staircase, removed the frame, put it under his smock, and simply walked out with it in plain sight. – Source
12. A Bolivian tourist threw a rock at the Mona Lisa in 1956, damaging the painting. – Source
13. Mona Lisa is worth approximately $782 million. – Source
14. In 1983, A Japanese artist, Tadahiko Ogawa, made a copy of the Mona Lisa completely out of toast. – Source
15. The Mona Lisa was moved 6 times during WWII to keep it out of the hands of the Nazis. – Source
16-19 Mona Lisa Facts
16. The ‘Mona Lisa with a Moustache’ is actually a work by surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp. Underneath, he would write ‘L.H.O.O.Q’; the letters, pronounced in French, sound like the French phrase ‘she has a hot ass’. – Source
17. Mona Lisa was loaned to the National Gallery for one month in 1963. Its visit included 24-hour security by U.S. Marines and even with expanded viewing hours, the line to wait was often two hours long. – Source
18. The smallest copy of the Mona Lisa is only 30 micrometers small. – Source
19. It is possible the famous Mona Lisa is a self-portrait of Da Vinci in drag. – Source
