• Louvre Museum

       Having 60,600 square meters this museum has the title of world’s largest museum. The Louvre Museum houses massive amounts of art collections in history, including the most famous painting it holds, Mona Lisa. This painting is not that big having the size of 21 by 30 inches with a bulletproof glass cover.

• Leonardo da Vinci

       In 1505, Leonardo made his first sketches of Mona Lisa, but no one knows when he finished painting her. Sfumato and Chiaroscuro are the two kinds of technique Leonardo used in this art work and was also described as an example of Renaissance art work.

• A Gift

          As a request of a wealthy merchant named Francesco del Giocondo, Leonardo da Vinci painted Mona Lisa, unknown to him that his painting will be one of the world’s most precious work of art. The painting was supposed to be given to the merchant’s wife to mark the birth of their son.

• Stolen Mona Lisa

          On August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci was stolen by four young Italian handymen. The painting was stolen on Monday morning when Louvre Museum was closed; they have come to the museum the day before they stole it and secretly hid themselves overnight on a narrow storage room. The painting was recovered from the thieves in 1913.

• Having A Look

          As the world’s famous painting, it attracts millions of visitors every year. Having a look at this magnificent work would not be that easy. Visitors have to squeeze their way to the crowd with a constant shift of 50 persons just to have a glimpse at the painting. No other paintings, sculptures, and other art works in the Louvre Museum are given the same kind of treatment.

•  Own Room

          Mona Lisa as the world’s most priceless treasure should be treated specially. The painting has its own room in the Louvre Museum, funded by Japanese network Nippon Television (NTV). Truly that this art work have its popularity all over the world.

• Imperfection

          Nothing is perfect; this painting of Leonardo da Vinci also has its imperfection. On December 30, 1956, a man named Ugo Ungaza Villegas, staring at Mona Lisa, after a while he threw a stone at it, damaging a part of the painting near Mona Lisa’s left elbow, creating history.

• Mystery Smile

       Those who had a glimpse of Mona Lisa’s smile might have seen her smiling. However, if you look at the painting again you might say she’s not. Margaret Livingstone, a Harvard neuroscientist, was pretty sure that she already solved the puzzle. Livingstone stated that the reason why her smile suddenly appears and then fade was the way we look at the painting. She said that when we look at someone’s face, we usually focus on the center of the attraction, the eyes. She said that when we look at Mona Lisa’s eyes, we partially picks up shadows from her cheekbones which made her look like smiling. No one knows until today if Leonardo da Vinci really made the painting look that way.

• No Eyebrows

          The painting of Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. It was perhaps removed by the painting’s restoration over time or perhaps Leonardo da Vinci did not really intended to paint her eyebrows.

• The Painter’s Death

The famous Mona Lisa never left his creator’s side until his death at France in 1519 at the Court of the King of France, François I. After his death, Mona Lisa became a collection of French Royal family, and later trimmed by an inch on both side