Monalisa is one of the most iconic artworks of all time. Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece attracts more visitors to the Louvre than the next 5 most famous paintings of the world. Estimates put that 80% of visitors to the Louvre museum visit it only to view the Monalisa painting.
Here’s an estimated number of annual visitors to the top 6 paintings of the world
The Last Supper - 460000 visitors/ year
The Scream - 500000 visitors/ year
The Girl with a pearl ring - 1500000 visitors/ year
Starry Night - 3000000 visitors/ year
The Sistine Chapel - 5000000 visitors/ year
Monalisa - 10000000 visitors/ year
If the number of visitors to Monalisa was to form a country, it will rank as 97th most populous country in the world. With a higher ranking than Switzerland, UAE, and Belarus.
But Monalisa was not always famous. For close to 4 centuries, it was just another painting. Lying neglected, with few giving it a second glance, and definitely, no one was queuing up to see her. So how did the Monalisa painting become so famous?
It was not until the year 1911 that Monalisa truly gained the recognition that she deserved. On 21 August 1911, a thief walked into the Louvre and stole the painting. Sparking an intense search for her whereabouts. Though it took two years to recover her, this incident suddenly made people all over the world aware of her existence. Monalisa had finally made it to the public's eye.
But let's begin at the beginning. Here is the story of Monalisa turning from another piece of art to a billion-dollar painting.
At the Beginning - Is the Mona Lisa a real Person? - The Making of Monalisa
While there are many theories about Monalisa and her origins. The generally accepted story by scholars goes something like this. In 1503, to celebrate the birth of his second son Andrea, and his new home, Francesco del Giocondo, approached Leonardo, to commission him to make an oil portrait painting of his wife, Lisa del Giocondo. Perhaps an anniversary gift.
At 51, when he received the commission, Leonardo was already famous as an artist and a polymath. And he bought a lifetime of experience, innovation, and inventiveness to bear on the portrait painting of Lisa del Giocondo. Now popularly known as Monalisa. Though unfinished, he made the oil portrait painting on poplar panel measuring 30 inches x 21 inches (77 cm x53 cm)
Painting Techniques used for Mona Lisa:
To give The Mona Lisa its life-like appearance, Leonardo da Vinci used certain painting approaches. He used a method called sfumato, which gradually transitions hues together, resulting in a "misty" border with no distinct lines. The other art pieces of the time had much more precise lines. He used another method called glazing. Where one applies many tiny thin layers of paint, making a body part look more realistic (see the Mona Lisa’s hand).
https://paintphotographs.com/article/history-of-monalisa-painting-from-neglect-to-billion-dollar