WEBVTT - How Did the Mona Lisa Get So Popular?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bobabam here. You know the Mona Lisa.

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<v Speaker 1>You've seen her image countless times, But how did she

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<v Speaker 1>come to be considered such a masterpiece? Art is, after

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<v Speaker 1>all a subjective experience, Yet the world is seemingly unanimously

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<v Speaker 1>obsessed with the Mona Lisa. So why is she's such

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<v Speaker 1>a big deal? The first things first, Yes, Mona Lisa

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<v Speaker 1>was a real person, and while scholars have debated who

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<v Speaker 1>that person was for centuries, and most believed the seated

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<v Speaker 1>subject of Leonardo da Vinci's famous work was the Mona

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<v Speaker 1>or Madam Lisa Garardini del Giocondo, also known as Logia Conda.

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<v Speaker 1>This Florentine lady's wealthy silk merchant husband may have commissioned

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<v Speaker 1>the portrait to celebrate the impending birth of their child,

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<v Speaker 1>but for some unexplained reason, the Giocondo family never actually

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<v Speaker 1>came into possession of the painting. The pregnancy theory does

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<v Speaker 1>add up, though, if you believe scholars who speculate that

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<v Speaker 1>the subjects sli smile and loose clothing are nod to

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<v Speaker 1>motherhood on the horizon, and most historians agree that da

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<v Speaker 1>Vinci started the painting around fifteen o three and continued

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<v Speaker 1>to work on it for about four years. Beauty may

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<v Speaker 1>be in the eye of the beholder, but da Vinci's

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<v Speaker 1>painting includes some revolutionary techniques that make it technically impressive.

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<v Speaker 1>The style of the painting in itself is the most

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<v Speaker 1>famous example of da Vinci's signatures fumato method, which blends

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<v Speaker 1>colors and tones in a soft, shaded way without the

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<v Speaker 1>hard lines or borders of fu Mare is an Italian

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<v Speaker 1>word for shading off or fading out, and fu mare

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<v Speaker 1>means smoke. Da Vinci incorporated another pioneering technique into his creation,

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<v Speaker 1>the integration of an imaginary landscape and the use of

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<v Speaker 1>aerial perspective. Mona Lisa is seated in an open space

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<v Speaker 1>with decided non specific mountains, bridges, and winding paths behind

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<v Speaker 1>her in the distance. This dreamy landscape is a departure

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<v Speaker 1>from the realistic backgrounds that artists of the time painted

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<v Speaker 1>into their portraits, and many have associated those serene, natural

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<v Speaker 1>elements and the subject's calm expression with a greater commentary

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<v Speaker 1>on the human connection to nature. The Mona Lisa is

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<v Speaker 1>also one of the earliest examples of an Italian portrait

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<v Speaker 1>portraying a subject at half length. That is, the arms

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<v Speaker 1>and hands are displayed, but the frame extends below them,

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<v Speaker 1>and she's sitting in a chair. And of course there's

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<v Speaker 1>that iconic, if slightly creepy characteristic of Mona Lisa's eyes

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<v Speaker 1>seemingly following the viewer wherever they go. This weirdly intimate

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<v Speaker 1>attribute is a result of da Vinci's mastery of shadows

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<v Speaker 1>and light, and while he wasn't the first one to

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<v Speaker 1>implement the technique, many people refer to the illusion as

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<v Speaker 1>the Mona Lisa effect. While the Mona Lisa definitely has

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<v Speaker 1>a lot going on for her in the way of

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<v Speaker 1>artistic skill, level, thematic complexity, and unique presentation, she definitely

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<v Speaker 1>developed the majority of her fan following after an infamous

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<v Speaker 1>incident at the Louver on August one of nineteen eleven,

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<v Speaker 1>three young Italian handyman slipped out of the side entrance

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<v Speaker 1>of the famous French museum with the Mona Lisa in tow.

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<v Speaker 1>The fact that it took twenty six hours for anyone

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<v Speaker 1>to notice she was missing perhaps speaks to the low

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<v Speaker 1>level of fame that the painting had up until that point.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though da Vinci had created the piece in the

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<v Speaker 1>early fifteen hundreds, critics didn't really take notice until the

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen sixties, and even then the positive accolades were few

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<v Speaker 1>and far between and exclusively within the art world itself.

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<v Speaker 1>But once the portrait went missing, the world took notice

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<v Speaker 1>in a major way. Newspapers all over the world printed

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<v Speaker 1>headlines about its disappearance, and people started concocting all kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of conspiracy theories about the likely robbers. America and tycoon

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<v Speaker 1>JP Morgan and famed artist Pablo Picasso were both considered suspects.

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<v Speaker 1>The Louver shut down for a week, and when it

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<v Speaker 1>reopened its doors, scores of people flocked the museum to

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<v Speaker 1>see the mark of shame, that is, the empty spot

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<v Speaker 1>on the wall for themselves. It took twenty eight months

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<v Speaker 1>for the lead thief to attempt a resale of this

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<v Speaker 1>stolen merchandise, and an art gallery owner quickly confirmed the

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<v Speaker 1>item's authenticity with a glance at the stamp on the back.

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<v Speaker 1>The dealer said he'd make sure the seller got a

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<v Speaker 1>reward and instead sent the police after him. The thief

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<v Speaker 1>pled guilty and served eight months in prison, and while

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<v Speaker 1>the painting was returned to its rightful home. People around

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<v Speaker 1>the world continued to chatter about its disappearance. Over time,

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<v Speaker 1>they just kept chattering, and these days Mona Lisa is

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most famous women in the world. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>everyone has haters, including her. In ninety six, a Louver

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<v Speaker 1>visitor through acid at her, and another person helped at

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<v Speaker 1>her with a rock as she was attacked with spray

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<v Speaker 1>paint in and a rogue coffee cup in two thousand nine,

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<v Speaker 1>but thankfully she had already been protected by bulletproof glass

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<v Speaker 1>by the time those two incidents took place. In May

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<v Speaker 1>of two she was smeared with cake by a climate

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<v Speaker 1>change protester. However, the bulletproof glass prevented any lasting damage.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article why is the

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<v Speaker 1>world so captivated by the Mona Lisa on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com written by Michelle Konstantinovski. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.