Feb 23, 2024 · It’s true that Napoleon looted many artworks and treasures from Italy, but he did not steal the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa, having been acquired by Francis I, king of France, was taken to the Louvre in 1665, then to Versailles in the private gallery of Louis XIV.

The world’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, needs a space big enough to welcome its many admirers. It is therefore housed in the Louvre’s largest room, the Salle des États, which is also home to other remarkable Venetian paintings such as The Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese.

Jan 27, 2025 · Mona Lisa, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most famous painting. It was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519, when Leonardo was living in Florence, and it now hangs in the Louvre Museum, Paris, where it remained an object of pilgrimage in the 21st century.

The Mona Lisa (/ ˌmoʊnə ˈliːsə / MOH-nə LEE-sə; Italian: la Gioconda [la dʒoˈkonda] or Monna Lisa [ˈmɔnna ˈliːza]; French: la Joconde [la ʒɔkɔ̃d]) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Nov 8, 2024 · Thousands of visitors gather every day before the Mona Lisa, drawn in by the enigmatic smile of the woman immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci. Yet, few stop to wonder why this Renaissance masterpiece, so intimately tied to Italy, is in Paris, at the Louvre, rather than in an Italian museum.

Jan 28, 2025 · Is the 'Mona Lisa' going on an Italian vacation? It served as the background for Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 presidential victory speech. On Tuesday, he returned to the Louvre to attempt some damage...

Jan 27, 2025 · An Italian official in Milan has called for France’s Louvre Museum to temporarily return Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to Italy as the museum faces concerns of disrepair and appeals for renovation.

2 days ago · We now know what happened to the Mona Lisa. An Italian employee of the Louvre, Vincenzo Peruggia, had pulled off the heist for “reasons of patriotism,” with the misguided idea of returning the painting to Italy. Like Picasso and Apollinaire, Leonardo was, of course, also an expatriate; he had taken himself to France, which is ultimately why ...

Five centuries after Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa (1503–19), the portrait hangs behind bulletproof glass within the Louvre Museum and draws thousands of jostling spectators each day. It is the most famous painting in the world, and yet, when viewers manage to see the artwork up close, they are likely to be baffled by the small ...

Jan 28, 2025 · Italy is now seizing on the Louvre’s distress call with an offer to welcome the iconic Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) back to Italy—at least temporarily.