What makes the Mona Lisa so special?

622 views

Other paintings are bigger, just as life-like or even more detailed, so what is it about the Mona Lisa that makes it the de facto choice when talking about famous art? Is it just the slight smirk?

In: Other

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The Mona Lisa has been stolen once from an Italian and since then it’s very special. Another point is that wherever you look at the Mona Lisa it seems like the person is always looking to you.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Well she doesn’t have eyebrows.

Also the depth perception in the mountains behind her is insane. Especially for the time and with the media /size of the canvas.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The impression I got is that Da Vinci put so much of himself into it. He carried it around throughout a good portion of his life, and was basically his obsession. Couple that with a bit of mystery as to who she is, and other visual quirks, and it’s theft…it’s got quite a bit of history going for it. Don’t take any of this too much to heart, I barely listened to the documentaries and youtube videos talking about it.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The significance of Mona Lisa is that at a time where reference, technology and photography hadn’t been developed, Da Vinci managed to make it as close to reality as possible. The smile is enigmatic and things like her gaze, posture and background blending perfectly to even hidden animals and inventing a technique to complete it as well. Even the model’s background is part of its iconic infamy.

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s an excellent painting but the reason is famous is because it was stolen from the Louvre in 1911. At the time, it generated a tremendous amount of worldwide media attention and was sort of a “crime of the century” status. That’s really what made the painting famous.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Look at other portraits from that time. The technique used was very advanced and impressive then, groundbreaking actually. Nowadays most painters could pain a portrait like that and he’s why.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Pcasso retweeted it so it got a ton of likes on Twitter which was very impressive at the time

Nah but in serious, I assume it’s to do with the smile and the overall feel of it. It just kinda looks nice in general.

Anonymous 0 Comments

**Please read this entire message**

Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):

* ELI5 requires that you *search the ELI5 subreddit for your topic before posting*.

Users will often either find a thread that meets their needs or find that their question might qualify for an exception to rule 7.

Please see this [wiki entry](http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/how_to_search) for more details (Rule 7).

* Recommended subreddit(s): /r/NoStupidQuestions


If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20thread?&message=Link:%20https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/og2ats/-/%0A%0APlease%20answer%20the%20following%203%20questions:%0A%0A1.%20The%20concept%20I%20want%20explained:%0A%0A2.%20Link%20to%20the%20search%20you%20did%20to%20look%20for%20past%20posts%20on%20the%20ELI5%20subreddit:%0A%0A3.%20How%20is%20this%20post%20unique:) and we will review your submission.