Thinking About La Gioconda (The Mona Lisa)

My aunt was traveling around Europe this week and visiting some of my favorite historical sites. As she posted pictures and announced which great museum she was onto next, I was at home and back to work from summer vacation. Up popped a picture on my computer from her, the camera gazing up at the Eiffel Tower. Meanwhile, I was answering phone calls from concerned parents and checking students for lice in the health office.

The best thing I could to do as I slipped away on my lunch break, a 45 minute vacation from my day, was to pretend that I too was in one of the most interesting and historically rich cities in the world. In 2009, I was fortunate enough to go on a field research trip with my university's history department. The first stop on that trip was to Paris. We hit all of the must- sees: Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and of course, the Louvre! I was so excited for the Louvre!

Part of our responsibilities on the trip was to prepare a short presentation about something we'd be visiting. My friend talked about the Arc de Triomphe. Another person discussed the Battle of Waterloo as we sat atop the battle's monument. My presentation was on the Mona Lisa.

We had a tour guide at the Louvre who led us underground where the moat once was, up the stairs past the Winged Victory and through the Italian Gallery where many Da Vinci's are on display. When we walked into the Grand Gallery, she stepped aside, handed me her "official tour guide pass," and let me take over. What an amazing moment to stand in front of the Mona Lisa, hold an audience and teach people about the most famous painting in the world. Its a painting that most people recognize by name and has a history that few people really know.

The Mona Lisa or "La Gioconda," is believed to be a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. The title for the  painting that we use in America comes from a contraction of the word, "ma donna," which means "my lady." Da Vinci began working on the piece in 1503 and it supposedly took him four years to complete. She is painted on a poplar wood panel that currently has worm holes and an eleven centimeter crack in the back.

At the time of his death, Da Vinci bequeathed the portrait to his friend, King Francios I of France. As time went on, ownership passed to such notables as Louis XIV and Napoleon.  Caretakers of the painting took it upon themselves to add coats of varnish to the piece. In doing so it has caused the portrait to grow darker and darker. Scans of the piece show that La Gioconda once had eyebrows. Perhaps their absence today is a result of the layers of varnish.

The Mona Lisa came to the Louvre in the early nineteenth century when Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena. The piece was revered by artists and art lovers for its technique and realism. The museum had a million other objects in its collection but, the Mona Lisa was the only that had its own mailbox. Despite this fact, La Gioconda's value was substantially less than that of several other paintings. And paintings by other artists were copied more frequently than the Mona Lisa.

On August 21, 1911 it was discovered that La Gioconda had been stolen from its home in the museum. The only evidence that remained was the painting's new, 87 pound, double frame that had been removed and left near a staircase. Two years later a man calling himself Leonardo Vicenza contacted an art dealer about selling the painting. The dealer in turn got in touch with the director of the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy. The three men set up a meeting to discuss and inspect the painting. Police were notified and Vicenza was arrested at the meeting. The Mona Lisa was found in a trunk in the Vicenza's room. Leonardo Vicenza (or Vincenzo Peruggia if one prefers his real name) was given a light punishment for his crime. The Italian court had sympathy for the thief's ideal of returning to Italy what he had believed to be stolen by Napoleon.

The theft of Da Vinci's painting actually helped to grow the popularity of the portrait. Newspapers continually printed pictures of the Mona Lisa which increased familiarity with the painting around the world. The number of articles that were published in the span of two years helped expand awareness as well. Museum goers would stand in line and walk past the empty spot on the wall where the piece was once displayed.

" ' For many, the Mona Lisa is the Louvre,' the Paris-Journal echoed. ' In the eyes of the public, even the uneducated, the Mona Lisa occupies a privileged position that is not be accounted for by its value alone.'" Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti





The majority of my research came from Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti as well as the Louvre website.