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We may never know all of the Mona Lisa’s secrets, but surely the history of the painting and it’s worldly travels has only helped in making the image so sought after.

The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo Da Vinci

Asking “What country is the Mona Lisa in?” or “Where is the Mona Lisa located?” does not do justice to how far the Mona Lisa has travelled in it’s lifetime.

Arriving In France

In the beginning, when first painted by Da Vinci, the Mona Lisa never left his side. He started work on the piece in 1502 and completed it in 1506 (some argue it took much longer to complete, or was never actually finished). When Da Vinci left Italy for good in 1516, he took the Mona Lisa with him to the French village of Cloux, near the King’s summer palace at Amboise on the Loire.

Cloux Castle, where Da Vinci lived, and died

Following Da Vinci’s his death in 1519, it was purchased by King Francois I who kept it at Fontainebleau. Later King Louis XIV moved it to his new palace in Versailles. The painting remained there until after the French Revolution. As to what king kept Mona Lisa after the revolution, it was not a King exactly but an Emperor, Napoleon. He had it mounted in his bedroom in the Tuileries palace for a short period, before having it moved to the Louvre.

Of course, it didn’t remain in the Louvre from the 18^th century until today. After Napoleon was removed from power, Louis XVIII had the painting replaced by a copy. In 1870, the painting was removed to an undisclosed location somewhere in France due to the Franco-Prussian Wars. Finally restored to the Louvre in 1872, it remained there until 1911.

How the Mona Lisa Was Stolen

On the morning of August 22, 1911 the Mona Lisa was found to have been stolen. The crime prompted the arrest of French Poet Guillaume Apollinaire and painter Pablo Picasso, both of whom were quickly released. After being gone for two years many people thought the Mona Lisa was lost forever, until Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia attempted to sell to an art dealer in Florence.

Vincenzo Peruggia after his arrest

As it turned out, Peruggia had the painting the entire time, having simply waited until the museum closed and walked out with it under his coat. Believing it was best kept in Italy not France, Peruggia eventually gave into the monetary love for the painting and was caught. Despite the growing nationalism in Italy, which later grew in to Mussolini’s Facist regime, the Italian government did not want an international spectacle over where the painting belonged, so after a series of exhibitions in Italy, it was returned to the Louvre in 1913.

During the second World War, again the painting removed for safety, first to Château Amboise, then to the Loc-Dieu Abbey and finally to the Ingres Museum in Montauban.

Where is the Mona Lisa Today?

The Louvre. Paris, France

Housed in the Salle des États portion of the Louvre in Paris, France, the Mona Lisa, officially known as No.779, is found surrounded by bulletproof glass and the careful attention of climate control to keep it from deteriorating. Millions visit Paris and the Louvre every year to see a painting that represents an entire movement in human history, and with such a colourful history all by itself, the Mona Lisa is an icon.

The Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris

The full image from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michaelangelo

Hyria with Women at the Fountain. 530 B.C.

Vulci, Museo di Villa Giulia, Rome

Non-mythological subjects also appear on vases. In one example, a group of women at a fountain appropriately decorates a hydria, or water jug. Several vases have images relating to the Panathenaic games, festivals held in Athens similar to the Olympic games which first took place in 776 B.C. (The Olympics were discontinued by the Romans in 394 A.D. only to resume more than fifteen hundred years later, in 1896). Greek vases often depict actual athletic events, such as footraces. Because they com­peted nude, athletes were a favourite subject for Greek artists interested in depicting the human body. This type of vase might have been given as a prize to a winning athlete.

Three Participants in a Footrace at the Panathenaic Games. 6th centrury B.C.

Black figured apmhora. Musee Vivenel, Compiegne, France

This vase was given as a prize to the winner of a footrace at the Panathenaic Games. What the Greeks considered the naturally beautiful human figure, whether the mortal or immortal, had become the main subject of vase painting by this time. Athletes, because they competed nude, were a favourtite subject of Greek artists perfecting the depiction of the human form. The arrangement of small figures and patterns in the horizontal registers, characteristic of the “geometric” and “orientalising” styles, is replaced in Archaic Greek vases, such as the one illustrated here, by larger less crowded scenes

The Greeks saw themselves as a rational, civilized, and dignified people, and thus superior to the Persians, whom they considered barbarians. When the Greeks finally succeeded in halting the onslaught of their foes from the East, they embarked on an age of great prosperity, known as the High Classical period, which lasted from about 450 to 400 B.C. During this time, the humanistic tendencies of the Greeks came to fruition, and were expressed in all media. The core principle and aesthetic tenet of the time are best summed up by the Greek philosopher Protagoras (c. 485-410 B.C.), who said, “Man is the measure of all things.” This interest in humanity, this confidence in human capabilities, is probably best seen, as far as the visual arts are concerned, in Greek sculpture and architecture; it was at this time that the Parthenon was rebuilt, under the famous Athenian statesman Pericles, and decorated with some of the best examples of High Classical sculpture.

Niobid Painter. Apollo and Artemis Slaying the Chilldren of Niobe. c. 455-450 B.C.

Attic red-figure calyx-krater from Orvieto. Height: apporx. 21″ (53cm). Musee du Louvre, Paris

In Greek mythology, Niobe was the granddaughter of Zeus, ruler of the gods. After boasting about the number of children she had (seven sons and seven daughters) in comparison to the goddess Leto, Niobe was punished for her hubris by Apollo and Artemis, the two offspring of Leto, who slaughtered all Niobe’s offspring. The red-figure technique was more conductive to the Classical Greek artist’s interest in realism, qualified by idealism, in the depiction of the human form. In portraying the nude figure of Apollo, the Niobid Painter has clearly delineated musculature. Despite the horror of the event, Apollo and Artemis have typically controlled, rational expressions on their faces - the essence of the Classical ideal

[catch the next part in the “History of Western Paintings”, Ancient Greece (Part Four), next Sunday. Subscribe to our RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss out!]