Loading...In the early 1500s, Leonardo da Vinci painted one of the most famous paintings in the world today, if not the most famous: the Mona Lisa. We all know the painting; a portrait of a young, smiling woman in front of a background filled with trees, lake, and a winding road. Since it’s creation over 500 years ago, the painting has grown an iconic reputation, some even hailing it as perhaps the best painting ever put onto canvas. But to the uninitiated, the painting may not look more than a run-of-the-mill Renaissance masterpiece, no better than any other da Vinci, Michelangelo, or Raphael magnum opus.
The video above, created by Vox, explains the history behind the painting and a cynic’s view of how it became one of the world’s most famous pieces, putting aside the its beauty for once. From the painting’s theft in the 1900s to one art critic’s fascination with the painting, the Mona Lisa has had an interesting history, all of which is covered in the great video above.