Where Can I find A Picture Of Mona Lisa?
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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.
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.
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 18th 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.
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?
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.
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