We would not be wrong if we state that Mona Lisa is the most popular work of art in the whole world. People all over the world know Mona Lisa as the muse of an Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. This artwork has a lot people curious about who Mona Lisa really was. There are many theories that try to answer the question but the truth still remains a mystery.
Although a lot of researches have been made about the Mona Lisa, the painting, but still there are many things about it that people still do not know. Following are few things you didn’t know about Mona Lisa:
Her real name is not Mona Lisa
Most of the people believe that the woman in the portrait by Leonardo da Vinci is named Mona Lisa. However, that is not completely true. Her real name is Lisa Gherardini and she was married to Francesco Del Giocondo, a wealthy man who loved her a lot. This painting is titled as La Gioconda which relates to the name but is less popular.
Her eyebrows are debatable
The absence of eyebrows on the face of Lisa Gherardini is a point of debate among people. Some people claim that the absence of eyebrows on her face denotes that this was an act of fashion among high class women of that time. Some people on the other hand claim that Leonardo da Vinci did not get time to complete his work of art, hence the eyebrows are absent. The truth is completely different than what is believed among both the groups of debaters. Highly detailed digitalized scans were conducted which proved that da Vinci did paint eyebrows on the face of the pretty lady. However, over time the paint of the eyebrows faded or was gone while the painting was being restored.
She is a heart breaker
Maybe, during her time when she was living Lisa Gherardini broke a lot of hearts when she married her husband. Even today, there are many men over the globe who wished she could be theirs. When Mona Lisa was first put up for public display in 1815 in The Louvre, Paris, there were many men who brought lovely bouquet of flowers for her. Some of them even wrote love notes and poems and presented them to her. Sadly, she is not in the real world. Many men wish if they could get her to sate their love and passion for her.
She had gone missing once
Once in the year 1911, La Gioconda was gone missing which made the whole world, especially the French people, mourn her. It was stolen from the museum where it was kept on display. People were worried about the missing painting. Later on, it was discovered that it was stolen by one of the employees of the museum who was caught when he was trying to sell it off.
There are many other facts people do not know about Mona Lisa. The mysteriously beautiful lady has mesmerized people since several years and will continue to drive men crazy over her beauty for many more years to come.