Musee Du Louvre, Paris - Why is the Mona Lisa Hanging There?

Why does the Musee Du Louvre, Paris, house the most famous painting in the world when it was painted in Italy by an Italian artist?

There is nothing unusual about works of art being shifted around the world and the Louvre contains a goodly selection of other Italian paintings - by Mantegna, Bellini, Caravaggio and Titian.

Paris Musuem

There is no doubt as to the Italian origins of this masterpiece. Painted in Florence by the Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci, it is sometimes also known by its Italian name "La Gioconda". It is thought to be a painting of Lisa del Giocondo, a member of the Gherardini family who married Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy Florentine silk merchant. So there is not much mystery as to the origins of the names "La Gioconda" or the "Lisa" part of the painting's name. As to the "Mona" part, this is doubtless a corruption of the Italian "Ma Donna", meaning "My Lady".

Musee Du Louvre, Paris - Why is the Mona Lisa Hanging There?

Yet, in the eyes of many, there is a mysterious and non-specific air to the painting. The most well-known adjective used to describe the painting is "enigmatic". The background to the painting is not particularly relevant to Italy, it consisting of a fictitious landscape with mountains in the background. Where are there signs of Italian civilisation? There is but a small bridge and some winding paths to behold.

The Mona Lisa is located in the Musee Du Louvre chiefly because Leonardo took the painting to France with him in 1516 and it eventual wound up in the Louvre after the French Revolution.

A hundred years ago, in August 1911 to be precise, the Mona Lisa was subject to an unsuccessful episode of repatriation when it was stolen by Louvre worker Vincenzo Peruggia. The burglar hid in a broom cupboard till closing time and walked out with the painting under his coat. His motive? Rather like a devotee of the Elgin marbles arguing that they should be returned to Greece, he believed the painting should be returned to its country of origin. Peruggia blew his cover two years later by trying to sell it on to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. After being exhibited all over Italy, the Mona Lisa was returned to the Louvre in 1913, and is still owned by the French Government. Peruggia got off lightly with a six month jail term.

Musee Du Louvre, Paris - Why is the Mona Lisa Hanging There? Sergey Prokofiev - Overture on Hebrew Themes op.34 Video Clips. Duration : 10.47 Mins.

Prokofiev's "Overture on Hebrew Themes" For Clarinet, String Quartet and Piano . Performers : Narek Arutyunian - Clarinet Yury Revich - Violin Recorded in Moscow Narek Arutyunian was born in Gyumri, Armenia in 1992. When Narek was 10, he took the clarinet in his hands for the first time ever. He studied at the Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (2003-2009) ,at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory with Evgeny Petrov (2009-2010) At Queens College at City University in New York (2010-2011) Since 2011 he has been studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York with Charles Neidich. In Recital Narek has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, the Museum of Grenoble, Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, "Palazzo del Principe" in Genova, Teatro Savio in Messina, Kaliningrad Philharmonic Hall,Glendale Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, Chamber Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic Society Narek has performed numerous concerts major concert halls all throughout Europe and North America Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, Rudolfinum - Dvorak Hall in Prague, United Nations Hall in Geneva, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow , George Weston Recital Hall in Toronto, Great, Small and Rachmaninov Halls of the Moscow Conservatory, St.Petersburg Philharmonic Hall , Svetlanov's, Theater and Chamber Halls of Moscow International House of Music ...

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