1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Bobabam here. You know the Mona Lisa. 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: You've seen her image countless times, But how did she 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: come to be considered such a masterpiece? Art is, after 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: all a subjective experience, Yet the world is seemingly unanimously 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: obsessed with the Mona Lisa. So why is she's such 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: a big deal? The first things first, Yes, Mona Lisa 8 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: was a real person, and while scholars have debated who 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: that person was for centuries, and most believed the seated 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: subject of Leonardo da Vinci's famous work was the Mona 11 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: or Madam Lisa Garardini del Giocondo, also known as Logia Conda. 12 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,480 Speaker 1: This Florentine lady's wealthy silk merchant husband may have commissioned 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: the portrait to celebrate the impending birth of their child, 14 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: but for some unexplained reason, the Giocondo family never actually 15 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: came into possession of the painting. The pregnancy theory does 16 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: add up, though, if you believe scholars who speculate that 17 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: the subjects sli smile and loose clothing are nod to 18 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: motherhood on the horizon, and most historians agree that da 19 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: Vinci started the painting around fifteen o three and continued 20 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: to work on it for about four years. Beauty may 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: be in the eye of the beholder, but da Vinci's 22 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: painting includes some revolutionary techniques that make it technically impressive. 23 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: The style of the painting in itself is the most 24 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: famous example of da Vinci's signatures fumato method, which blends 25 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: colors and tones in a soft, shaded way without the 26 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: hard lines or borders of fu Mare is an Italian 27 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: word for shading off or fading out, and fu mare 28 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: means smoke. Da Vinci incorporated another pioneering technique into his creation, 29 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: the integration of an imaginary landscape and the use of 30 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: aerial perspective. Mona Lisa is seated in an open space 31 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: with decided non specific mountains, bridges, and winding paths behind 32 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: her in the distance. This dreamy landscape is a departure 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: from the realistic backgrounds that artists of the time painted 34 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: into their portraits, and many have associated those serene, natural 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: elements and the subject's calm expression with a greater commentary 36 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: on the human connection to nature. The Mona Lisa is 37 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: also one of the earliest examples of an Italian portrait 38 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: portraying a subject at half length. That is, the arms 39 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: and hands are displayed, but the frame extends below them, 40 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: and she's sitting in a chair. And of course there's 41 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: that iconic, if slightly creepy characteristic of Mona Lisa's eyes 42 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: seemingly following the viewer wherever they go. This weirdly intimate 43 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: attribute is a result of da Vinci's mastery of shadows 44 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: and light, and while he wasn't the first one to 45 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: implement the technique, many people refer to the illusion as 46 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: the Mona Lisa effect. While the Mona Lisa definitely has 47 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: a lot going on for her in the way of 48 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: artistic skill, level, thematic complexity, and unique presentation, she definitely 49 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: developed the majority of her fan following after an infamous 50 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: incident at the Louver on August one of nineteen eleven, 51 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: three young Italian handyman slipped out of the side entrance 52 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: of the famous French museum with the Mona Lisa in tow. 53 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: The fact that it took twenty six hours for anyone 54 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: to notice she was missing perhaps speaks to the low 55 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: level of fame that the painting had up until that point. 56 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:32,959 Speaker 1: Even though da Vinci had created the piece in the 57 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: early fifteen hundreds, critics didn't really take notice until the 58 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: eighteen sixties, and even then the positive accolades were few 59 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: and far between and exclusively within the art world itself. 60 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: But once the portrait went missing, the world took notice 61 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: in a major way. Newspapers all over the world printed 62 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: headlines about its disappearance, and people started concocting all kinds 63 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: of conspiracy theories about the likely robbers. America and tycoon 64 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: JP Morgan and famed artist Pablo Picasso were both considered suspects. 65 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: The Louver shut down for a week, and when it 66 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: reopened its doors, scores of people flocked the museum to 67 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: see the mark of shame, that is, the empty spot 68 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: on the wall for themselves. It took twenty eight months 69 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: for the lead thief to attempt a resale of this 70 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: stolen merchandise, and an art gallery owner quickly confirmed the 71 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: item's authenticity with a glance at the stamp on the back. 72 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: The dealer said he'd make sure the seller got a 73 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: reward and instead sent the police after him. The thief 74 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: pled guilty and served eight months in prison, and while 75 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: the painting was returned to its rightful home. People around 76 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,799 Speaker 1: the world continued to chatter about its disappearance. Over time, 77 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: they just kept chattering, and these days Mona Lisa is 78 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: one of the most famous women in the world. Of course, 79 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: everyone has haters, including her. In ninety six, a Louver 80 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: visitor through acid at her, and another person helped at 81 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: her with a rock as she was attacked with spray 82 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: paint in and a rogue coffee cup in two thousand nine, 83 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: but thankfully she had already been protected by bulletproof glass 84 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: by the time those two incidents took place. In May 85 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: of two she was smeared with cake by a climate 86 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: change protester. However, the bulletproof glass prevented any lasting damage. 87 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article why is the 88 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,119 Speaker 1: world so captivated by the Mona Lisa on how stuff 89 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: Works dot Com written by Michelle Konstantinovski. Brain Stuff is 90 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff 91 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four 92 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 93 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.