2 min read
The Theft That Made the Mona Lisa Famous
On 21 August 1911 the Mona Lisa disappeared from the Louvre. For more than two years the most famous empty space in Paris drew crowds, and the painting came back a global icon.
Leonardo da Vinci
1452–1519
Italian painter, engineer and scientist of the Renaissance (1452–1519), the author of the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. Only about seventeen completed paintings by him survive, but his notebooks range across anatomy, mechanics and architecture.
Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452, by tradition in a house at Anchiano near Vinci. He was the son of the notary Ser Piero da Vinci and a woman named Caterina.1 In 1469 he moved to Florence and joined the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio.1
In 1482 he moved to Milan to serve Ludovico Sforza as painter and engineer.1 There he painted the Last Supper (1495–1498).2 He left Milan in 1499, after the French invasion.1 Back in Florence he worked on the Mona Lisa (c. 1503–1506).2
In 1516 he entered the service of King Francis I of France.2 He died on 2 May 1519 at Clos Lucé in Amboise.1 His manuscripts are famously written in mirror script.2
Sources
- 1Leonardo da Vinci: biography. Museo Leonardiano, Vinci
- 2Leonardo da Vinci: summary. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Works
Related articles
3 min read
The Last Supper: 7 Details Most People Miss in Leonardo's Masterpiece
Leonardo's mural in Milan is one of the most reproduced images in the world. These seven details, some documented and some disputed, show how much it still hides in plain sight.
