Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the Mona Lisa painted?
Leonardo da Vinci is thought by some to have begun painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy.[27] Although the Louvre states that it was "doubtless painted between 1503 and 1506",[10] the art historian Martin Kemp says there are some difficulties in confirming the actual dates with certainty.[17] In addition, many Leonardo experts, such as Carlo Pedretti [4] and Alessandro Vezzosi,[5] are of the opinion that the painting is characteristic of Leonardo's style in the final years of his life, post-1513. Other academics argue that, given the historical documentation, Leonardo would have painted the work from 1513.[7] According to Leonardo's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, "after he had lingered over it four years, [he] left it unfinished".[12] Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work".[28]
It is a painting of the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa". The painting is claimed by a majority of experts to be mostly an original work of Leonardo dating from the early 16th century: a survey of all published opinions shows that 22 experts are certain that the major parts of the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" are the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
A version of the "Mona Lisa" known as the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" and also known as the "Earlier Mona Lisa" was first bought by an English nobleman in 1778 and was rediscovered in 1913 by Hugh Blaker, an art connoisseur. The painting was presented to the media in 2012 by the Mona Lisa Foundation. 
The Prado "Mona Lisa" is a painting of the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's famous "Mona Lisa" (which is held by the Louvre Museum, Paris). The painting has been displayed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid (Spain) since 1819, but was considered for decades a worthless copy. However, after its restoration in 2012, the Prado's "Mona Lisa" was claimed to be the earliest replica of Leonardo's masterpiece.
At the start of the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned by Florentine nobleman Francesco del Giocondo to paint a portrait of his wife, Lisa.
The painting is believed to have been undertaken between 1503 and 1506.
Leonardo's portrait of "Mona Lisa" ("Mona" or "Monna" being the Italian honorific for "Madame") has been on display as part of the permanent collection at Paris' Louvre museum since 1797. It is also known as "La Joconde" in French and "La Gioconda" in Italian, and has been known by other names in the past. There is a new study setting the beginning of the Mona Lisa to an earlier date that thought before, pre-1478, contrary to Vasari's narrative.
Replicas of "Mona Lisa" date back to the 16th century,
including sculptures and etchings inspired by the painting.
But even by the start of the 20th century, historian Donald Sassoon has stated, "Mona Lisa" was still "just a well-respected painting by a famous old master, hanging in one of the great museums of the world."
The image had yet to gain iconic status, and, Sassoon adds, was "not even the most valued painting in the Louvre."
The painting's theft on August 11, 1911, and the subsequent media frenzy surrounding the investigation and its recovery are contributing factors which ignited public interest and catapulted "Mona Lisa" to its current standing.
In October 2013 Jean Pierre Isbouts published a book titled "The Mona Lisa Myth" examining the history and events behind the Louvre and Isleworth paintings and confirmed the latter's attribution to Leonardo. A companion film was released in March 2014. In April 2014, Albert Sauteur examined the perspective used to execute the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" and the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre, and concluded that Leonardo painted both works. In July 2014 "The Mona Lisa Mystery" premiered on the PBS television station's series "Secrets of the Dead". This documentary investigated, at length, the authenticity of the Isleworth painting.
The figure of the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" closely resembles that of the "Mona Lisa", being identically composed and lit. However, the face of the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" appears younger, leading to speculation that it is an earlier version by the artist. According to Pulitzer, multiple art experts agreed that the neck of the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" is inferior to the necks of other Leonardo subjects. Furthermore, the background in the Isleworth painting is considerably less detailed than the background in the Louvre painting. For these reasons, several people Pulitzer consulted believed that the hands and face of the portrait were done by Leonardo, but the rest may have been finished by another or others.
After restoration, the Prado's "Mona Lisa" revealed details covered by previous restorations and layers of varnish.
Furnishings and fabrics were enhanced, as well as landscape and facial features.
It is anticipated that such revelations may offer further insight into Leonardo's original.
Experts at the Louvre reportedly supported the Prado museum's findings.
The Prado replica was subsequently transported to the Louvre in 2012 to be displayed next to "Mona Lisa" as part of a temporary exhibition.
Two nude paintings bearing similarities to Leonardo da Vinci's original were part of a 2009 exhibition of artwork inspired by "Mona Lisa".
Displayed at the Museo Ideale in Leonardo's hometown of Vinci, near Florence, some believe one of the paintings – dating from Leonardo's time – to be the work of Leonardo himself, and it has at times been credited to him.
Other experts theorize the painting, one of at least six known to exist, may be just another copy painted by "followers" of Leonardo.
Scholarly dispute persists as to artist, subject and origin.
The nude in question, discovered behind a wall in a private library, reportedly belonged to an uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte, who owned another of Leonardo's paintings.
Facial features bear only vague resemblance, but landscape, compositional and technical details correspond to those of the "Mona Lisa" known worldwide today.
The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa and its subsequent return was reported worldwide, leading to a massive increase in public recognition of the painting. During the 20th century it was an object for mass reproduction, merchandising, lampooning and speculation, and was claimed to have been reproduced in "300 paintings and 2,000 advertisements".[86] It has been said that the Mona Lisa was regarded as "just another Leonardo until early last century, when the scandal of the painting's theft from the Louvre and subsequent return kept a spotlight on it over several years."[87]
Luke enters Clyde's painting for a competition and Clyde wins first prize. The prize is a trip to see the first showing of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" in Britain for Clyde and his class but Sarah Jane Smith is unaware of this as she and Luke have argued over the untidiness of his room. While the class is at the International Gallery with its director, Mr Harding, something causes the image of Mona Lisa to come to life and step out of the painting, and to replace herself with Harding's assistant, Miss Trupp. She also has the ability to make other people and objects from paintings come to life and able to make real people become part of paintings, and does this with some of the gallery staff. Believing the painting to be stolen, the gallery calls the police, who arrive. They have not been there long before the Mona Lisa also puts them into paintings. She removes a Sontaran blaster gun that Clyde has unwisely painted from his winning picture and commands the gallery's director to take her to find her 'brother'. Seeing the coverage of the apparent theft of the painting on television, Sarah Jane Smith arrives at the gallery and argues with the Mona Lisa to let the painting people come back to life. Instead, she puts Sarah Jane into a painting.
Also, according to Henry F. Pulitzer in his book "Where is the Mona Lisa?" (1960), Gian Paolo Lomazzo, an artist and writer, refers in his "Trattato dell'arte della Pittura Scultura ed Architettura" (1584), to ""della Gioconda, e di Mona Lisa" (the Gioconda, and the Mona Lisa)". "La Gioconda" is sometimes used as an alternative title of the "Mona Lisa" hanging in the Louvre; the reference implies that these were, in fact, two separate paintings. Pulitzer reproduces the critical page from Lomazzo's tract in his own book.
I, Mona Lisa (UK title Painting Mona Lisa) is a historical novel by Jeanne Kalogridis about Lisa Gherardini, the model for Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Mona Lisa". Lisa is portrayed as a young Italian woman who learns about the murder of Giuliano de' Medici, the brother of Lorenzo de' Medici in the Pazzi conspiracy. Guiliano's murder casts a shadow, especially as one of the killers has not been found. She later falls in love with Giuliano's namesake, Lorenzo's son Giuliano in the aftermath of Girolamo Savonarola's uprising in the late 15th century.
On 21 August 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre.[52] The theft was not discovered until the next day, when painter Louis Béroud walked into the museum and went to the Salon Carré where the Mona Lisa had been on display for five years, only to find four iron pegs on the wall. Béroud contacted the head of the guards, who thought the painting was being photographed for promotional purposes. A few hours later, Béroud checked back with the Section Chief of the Louvre who confirmed that the Mona Lisa was not with the photographers. The Louvre was closed for an entire week during the investigation.
The first and most extensive recorded cleaning, revarnishing, and touch-up of the Mona Lisa was an 1809 wash and revarnishing undertaken by Jean-Marie Hooghstoel, who was responsible for restoration of paintings for the galleries of the Musée Napoléon. The work involved cleaning with spirits, touch-up of colour, and revarnishing the painting. In 1906, Louvre restorer Eugène Denizard performed watercolour retouches on areas of the paint layer disturbed by the crack in the panel. Denizard also retouched the edges of the picture with varnish, to mask areas that had been covered initially by an older frame. In 1913, when the painting was recovered after its theft, Denizard was again called upon to work on the Mona Lisa. Denizard was directed to clean the picture without solvent, and to lightly touch up several scratches to the painting with watercolour. In 1952, the varnish layer over the background in the painting was evened out. After the second 1956 attack, restorer Jean-Gabriel Goulinat was directed to touch up the damage to Mona Lisa's left elbow with watercolour.[37]
The authenticity of the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" is disputed by a minority of experts. Skeptics argue that as Henry F. Pulitzer himself owned the painting in question, a conflict of interest is present. His "Where is the Mona Lisa?" was published by the Pulitzer Press, a publisher he owned. Pulitzer notes in the book's introduction that he made a number of sacrifices in order to acquire the painting, including the selling of "a house with all its contents".
A version of the Mona Lisa known as the Isleworth Mona Lisa and also known as the Earlier Mona Lisa was first bought by an English nobleman in 1778 and was rediscovered in 1913 by Hugh Blaker, an art connoisseur. The painting was presented to the media in 2012 by the Mona Lisa Foundation.[118] It is a painting of the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The painting is claimed by a majority of experts to be mostly an original work of Leonardo dating from the early 16th century.[119][29][120][121][122][123][124][31][125][6][7][45] Other experts, including Zöllner and Kemp, deny the attribution.[126][123]
Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes. Some researchers claim that it was common at this time for genteel women to pluck these hairs, as they were considered unsightly.[70][71] In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte announced that his ultra-high resolution scans of the painting provide evidence that Mona Lisa was originally painted with eyelashes and with visible eyebrows, but that these had gradually disappeared over time, perhaps as a result of overcleaning.[72] Cotte discovered the painting had been reworked several times, with changes made to the size of the Mona Lisa's face and the direction of her gaze. He also found that in one layer the subject was depicted wearing numerous hairpins and a headdress adorned with pearls which was later scrubbed out and overpainted.[73]
Today the Mona Lisa is considered the most famous painting in the world, but until the 20th century it was simply one among many highly regarded artworks.[84] Once part of King Francis I of France's collection, the Mona Lisa was among the first artworks to be exhibited in Louvre, which became a national museum after the French Revolution. From the 19th century Leonardo began to be revered as a genius and the painting's popularity grew from the mid-19th century when French intelligentsia developed a theme that it was mysterious and a representation of the femme fatale.[85] The Baedeker guide in 1878 called it "the most celebrated work of Leonardo in the Louvre",[86] but the painting was known more by the intelligentsia than the general public.
Although there are dozens of surviving replicas of "Mona Lisa" from the 16th and 17th centuries, the "Prado's Mona Lisa" may have been painted simultaneously by a student of Leonardo in the same studio where he painted his own "Mona Lisa", so it is said to be the replica with the most historical value. Among the pupils of Leonardo, Salaì or Francesco Melzi are the most plausible authors of the Prado's version, though other experts opine that the painting could have been executed by one of Leonardo's Spanish students.
In 2015, an academic publication by Professors Lorusso and Natali documented an exhaustive analysis of Mona Lisa paintings and copies, and concluded that both "Mona Lisa" and the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" were original works by Leonardo. In 2016, in another academic publication, Professors Asmus, Parfenov and Elford published the results of scientific examinations that established to their satisfaction that the same artist painted the face of both the "Mona Lisa" and the "Isleworth Mona Lisa".
The avant-garde art world has made note of the undeniable fact of the Mona Lisa's popularity. Because of the painting's overwhelming stature, Dadaists and Surrealists often produce modifications and caricatures. Already in 1883, Le rire, an image of a Mona Lisa smoking a pipe, by Sapeck (Eugène Bataille), was shown at the "Incoherents" show in Paris. In 1919, Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential modern artists, created L.H.O.O.Q., a Mona Lisa parody made by adorning a cheap reproduction with a moustache and goatee. Duchamp added an inscription, which when read out loud in French sounds like "Elle a chaud au cul" meaning: "she has a hot ass", implying the woman in the painting is in a state of sexual excitement and intended as a Freudian joke.[106] According to Rhonda R. Shearer, the apparent reproduction is in fact a copy partly modelled on Duchamp's own face.[107]
In 2017, Gérard Boudin de l'Arche published a comprehensive historical account and stated that Leonardo painted the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" before the Louvre "Mona Lisa".
The "Isleworth Mona Lisa" is wider than the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre, having columns on either side which also appear in some other versions. The Louvre painting merely has the projecting bases of columns on either side, suggesting that the picture was originally framed by columns but was trimmed. However, experts who examined the "Mona Lisa" in 2004–2005 stated that the original painting had not been trimmed.
According to Leonardo's early biographer Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo had started to paint "Mona Lisa" in 1503, but "left it unfinished". However, a fully finished painting of a "certain Florentine lady" surfaced again in 1517, shortly before Leonardo's death and in his private possession. The latter painting almost certainly is the one that now hangs in the Louvre. Based on this contradiction, supporters of the authenticity of the "Isleworth Mona Lisa" claim it is the unfinished "Mona Lisa", made at least partially by Leonardo, and the Louvre "Mona Lisa" a later version of it, made by Leonardo for his own use.
In 2011, the Prado museum in Madrid, Spain, announced discovery of what may be the earliest known replica.
Miguel Falomir, heading the Department of Italian Renaissance Painting at the time of the discovery, stated the Prado "had no idea of (the painting's) significance" until a recent restoration.
Recovered from the Prado's vaults, the replica – which El Mundo newspaper dubbed ""Mona Lisa"'s twin" ("above, far right") – was reportedly painted simultaneously alongside Leonardo as he painted his own "Mona Lisa"; in the same studio, by a "key" student.
It was painted on walnut. The replica has been part of the Prado's collection since the museum's founding in 1819.