The Mona Lisa: A Brief History of da Vinci's Famous Painting

Mona Lisa showcases many painterly techniques da Vinci employed, including sfumato and aerial perspective. DaVinci used sfumato, which means “vanished or evaporated,” to create imperceptible transitions between light and dark, while the background fades into the distance. This is another deviation from traditional Italian portraiture, which painted the background in the same sharp focus as the central figure.

Relatively unknown to the general public, but lauded as a masterwork by artists and intelligentsia, Mona Lisa’s 1911 theft brought notoriety. Picasso, French poet Apollinaire and American tycoon JP Morgan were all suspects during the investigation, but the actual culprit was Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia, with two accomplices. One of the accomplices claimed to have made six indistinguishable forgeries, leading to a rumor that the Mona Lisa currently in the Louvre is a fake.

Now exhibited in a climate controlled case made of bulletproof glass, Mona Lisa has survived vandalism and attempted theft. Moved into a glass case sometime in the 1950’s, because an obsessive fan tried to cut it out with a razor blade and take it home, the painting was slightly damaged in 1956, when a thrown rock shattered the glass case, dislodging a speck of pigment near her left elbow. The newer bulletproof case has continued to protect it. In 1974, while on loan for an exhibition at theTokyo Museum, the painting was sprayed with red paint by an activist protesting lack of disability access. Back at the Louvre, in 2009, a woman threw a teacup at it because she'd been denied French citizenship.

Also one of the most expensive paintings in the world, Mona Lisa became a Guinness World Records holder in 1962 for the highest known painting insurance valuation, $100 million, which is at least $870 million today. Given that it’s deemed irreplaceable, it’s probably worth more.