16 Surprising Facts About the ‘Mona Lisa’ You Might Not Know

For over 500 years, the enigmatic smile and everlasting charm of the Mona Lisa have sparked scholarly research and artistic imitation. Yet, the narrative behind Leonardo da Vinci’s mysterious masterpiece is even more fascinating than it seems.

1. The name 'Mona Lisa' isn’t the actual name of the subject.

The woman in the painting is widely believed to be Lisa Gherardini, whose affluent—and presumably devoted—husband Francesco del Giocondo commissioned the artwork in Florence, Italy, around 1503. This accounts for the alternative titles of the painting, La Gioconda or La Joconde in French. The term Mona Lisa (or Monna Lisa, as Italians say) essentially means “My Lady Lisa.”

2. The painting was left incomplete by Leonardo da Vinci.

After Leonardo passed away in 1519, it is believed that the unfinished Mona Lisa was left to his assistant. Some theories suggest that the artist may have abandoned the painting due to a possible paralysis that affected his ability to paint.

3. Napoleon had a deep admiration for the Mona Lisa.

The French emperor kept the Mona Lisa in his bedroom at the Tuileries Palace for nearly four years, starting in 1800. Legend has it that his obsession with the artwork fueled his admiration for a beautiful Italian woman named Teresa Guadagni, who was a direct descendant of Lisa Gherardini.

4. The Mona Lisa is surprisingly small in size.

Despite its enormous cultural impact, the Mona Lisa is a modest oil-on-wood painting, measuring only 30 inches by 21 inches and weighing 18 pounds.

5. The mystery of her eyebrows sparks ongoing debate.

Some argue that the absence of eyebrows reflects the high-class fashion trends of the era. Others believe it indicates that the Mona Lisa remains an incomplete work of art. However, in 2007, high-resolution digital scans revealed that Leonardo had originally painted eyebrows and more pronounced eyelashes, which had faded over time or been lost due to repeated restorations.

6. The Mona Lisa has captivated and broken countless hearts.

The painting was first exhibited publicly at the Louvre in 1815, drawing widespread admiration. As journalist Dianne Hales notes in Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered, “suitors bearing flowers, poems, and passionate letters climbed the grand staircase of the Louvre to gaze into her ‘limpid and burning eyes.’”

According to R. A. Scotti in Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa, the artwork “often drove men to bizarre behavior. Among the Louvre’s vast collection of over one million pieces, she alone received her own mail. Mona Lisa was inundated with love letters, some so intense that she was eventually placed under police protection.” The painting even has its own mailbox at the Louvre due to the volume of adoring letters it receives. (Some men, reportedly so obsessed, have tragically taken their own lives—one even in front of the painting.)

7. The Mona Lisa is considered virtually invaluable.

During a tour in the 1960s, the painting was insured for $100 million (adjusted for inflation, a 2014 estimate placed its value at $2.5 billion). However, the insurance policy was never finalized, as the premiums exceeded the expense of implementing top-tier security measures.

8. The artwork is displayed in a climate-controlled enclosure.

The Mona Lisa is the centerpiece of the Louvre’s Grand Gallery, housed in a climate-controlled space to maintain optimal conditions. (According to the Associated Press, the cooling system at the Louvre spans 55 miles of underground pipes, using renewable energy to chill water and maintain temperatures across more than 700 locations.) The painting is also protected by bulletproof glass to safeguard it from potential threats.

9. The Mona Lisa has faced multiple attacks over the years.

Upon close inspection of the subject’s left elbow, you can see the damage caused by Ugo Ungaza Villegas, a Bolivian man who threw a rock at the painting in 1956. Earlier that year, another assailant had thrown acid at the artwork, damaging its lower portion. These incidents led to the installation of bulletproof glass, which in 2009 successfully deflected a ceramic mug thrown by a furious Russian woman denied French citizenship. Most recently, in 2022, the glass protected the Mona Lisa when a man in a wig threw cake at it, shouting, “think of the earth, people are destroying the earth!” before being restrained by guards.

10. France collectively grieved when the Mona Lisa was stolen.

On August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was taken from the Louvre. The New York Times later likened the public’s reaction to the mourning following Princess Diana’s death in 1997: Thousands visited the museum to stare in disbelief at the empty space where the painting once hung, leaving flowers, notes, and other tokens of remembrance.

11. Pablo Picasso was among the suspects in the theft.

Due to his prior involvement in purchasing stolen artworks from the Louvre, Pablo Picasso was questioned by authorities. However, the actual thief wasn’t apprehended until 1913.

Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee and fervent Italian nationalist, concealed the painting under his smock and smuggled it out, believing it rightfully belonged to Italy, Leonardo’s homeland, rather than France. After keeping it hidden for two years, Peruggia was caught attempting to sell the Mona Lisa to an art dealer in Florence. Ironically, his wish was partially fulfilled: the painting toured Italy after its recovery before being returned to Paris.

12. There were suspicions that the theft involved more than one person.

While Peruggia was the sole individual charged with stealing the Mona Lisa, it’s improbable he acted alone. At the time, the painting was secured in a bulky wooden frame and glass case weighing nearly 200 pounds, making it nearly impossible for Peruggia to remove it from the wall by himself.

Years later, a man known as the Marquis of the Vale of Hell confessed to American journalist Karl Decker, claiming he orchestrated the theft. On the condition that his story remain confidential until his death, he disclosed that Peruggia was one of three men paid to steal the painting. The Marquis’s plan was to sell counterfeit versions of the masterpiece to collectors, each believing they possessed the genuine Mona Lisa. Whether his confession was truthful remains a subject of debate.

13. The return of the Mona Lisa sparked a fashion craze.

As Hales notes in Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered, “Society women embraced the ‘La Joconde look’ [named after the painting’s French title], applying yellow powder to their faces and necks to emulate her golden glow and freezing their expressions to replicate her smile. Parisian cabarets featured dancers dressed as La Joconde, performing the risqué can-can … The painting’s return marked a shift: the Mona Lisa had left the Louvre as art but returned as a cultural phenomenon, the first mass art icon.”

14. The Mona Lisa’s smile remains constant, but your perception of it shifts.

The enigmatic smile has captivated artists and scholars for centuries. In 2000, Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Margaret Livingstone used a scientific approach to explain why the Mona Lisa’s smile appears to change: it depends on where your focus lies and how your brain processes the image.

15. Some argue that the Mona Lisa’s expression is more of a frown ...

When some people visualize the Mona Lisa, they recall her expression as more of a frown than a smile. This phenomenon is an example of the Mandela Effect, a shared false memory. Other well-known instances include the Monopoly man wearing a monocle and the misremembered name Jiffy Peanut Butter.

16. ... but a 2017 study found that most people perceive her as happy.

To assess whether the Mona Lisa conveyed more joy or sorrow, researchers at the University of Freiburg presented 12 participants with nine images of the painting: one original and eight digitally altered versions, adjusting the mouth to depict varying degrees of happiness or sadness. After shuffling and displaying the images 30 times to each participant, 97 percent of the responses indicated that the original painting radiated happiness.