How the Mona Lisa became so overrated

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.ย. 2016
  • It's not just the smile. There are a few real reasons Mona is so famous. Vox's Phil Edwards looked into it...
    Follow Phil Edwards and Vox Almanac on Facebook for more: / philedwardsinc1
    Read the full article for citations and details here: www.vox.com/2016/9/20/12941736...
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ความคิดเห็น • 2.4K

  • @leonardodavinci4259
    @leonardodavinci4259 6 ปีที่แล้ว +10408

    I'm offended.

    • @sunishthanangal1121
      @sunishthanangal1121 4 ปีที่แล้ว +193

      Hahahahahahahahahaha
      This is awesome 🤣🤣

    • @Anayaah421
      @Anayaah421 4 ปีที่แล้ว +120

      I'm dead 😂😂

    • @sarahl.5748
      @sarahl.5748 4 ปีที่แล้ว +76

      I love you

    • @alessandro_natali
      @alessandro_natali 4 ปีที่แล้ว +139

      Sorry, Leo. The Lady with an Ermine is far better.

    • @Happy_Teddy24
      @Happy_Teddy24 4 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      But you yourself thought it was just ok

  • @valsteppe7754
    @valsteppe7754 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5895

    Fun fact: after the theft of the Mona Lisa, a popular joke in France went, "I'm going o the Louvre. Can I pick up something for you?"

    • @daiel1360
      @daiel1360 4 ปีที่แล้ว +172

      Yeah, can you get some milk?

    • @graciepie1059
      @graciepie1059 4 ปีที่แล้ว +106

      Also toothpaste

    • @daiel1360
      @daiel1360 4 ปีที่แล้ว +65

      @@laurahamilton9652 What about Milkpaste?

    • @yourmom8183
      @yourmom8183 4 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      How the f is that a joke

    • @dripsval6212
      @dripsval6212 4 ปีที่แล้ว +58

      Don't forget the Mona lisa

  • @sheryl6115
    @sheryl6115 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1612

    i used to believe as a kid that the reason why Mona Lisa is popular is because she had no eyebrow 👁👄👁

  • @nine-vi7rw
    @nine-vi7rw 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1637

    With the Mona Lisa, it was all about techniques than the picture itself.
    - The milky effect, soft edges etc. are signature to Da Vinci's style of painting that not many can recreate to this day.
    - Look at the pose. It's front facing and not stiff, unlike most of the Renaissance portraits at the time.
    - BACKGROUND. How many Renaissance portraits had such a vivid background? None. Da Vinci experimented with landscapes and perspective in color (the slowly vanishing colors) and that was breathtaking for a portrait commission of the time. ✔️points for creativity.
    - The painting also had illusions (with eye movements and also the smile which was soft to not show the true expression).
    Obviously, the stealing might add to the hype but the Mona Lisa was a revolutionary painting for Renaissance times.

    • @KCCC326
      @KCCC326 4 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      I scrolled for this🤗

    • @Alias24288
      @Alias24288 4 ปีที่แล้ว +68

      Thank you. Was trying to articulate forgotten information from my European art paper to answer to the Kim Kardashian comment. Top one on this video:(

    • @hanfarahman7432
      @hanfarahman7432 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Nana and da Vinci said he never actually finished her so yeah technically Mona Lisa is a work in progress to never be finished

    • @ofentsemafoko184
      @ofentsemafoko184 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      You speak as if these artists were primitive.

    • @Directioner7MJ
      @Directioner7MJ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      You can't be serious with the background comment though. There are PLENTY of Renaissance paintings with extremly detailed backgrounds, to the point where my Art Professors at uni would talk about and analyze them twice as much as the actual focus of the painting. There are a lot of italian Renaissance painters that are specificly known for their elaborate backgrounds...
      (Sorry if the english is off by the way, i'm not a native speaker)

  • @cmeves
    @cmeves 7 ปีที่แล้ว +13619

    Mona LIsa is the Kim Kardashian of the art world. Famous because she's famous.

    • @SuperCoalBlox
      @SuperCoalBlox 7 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      Lol

    • @SuperCoalBlox
      @SuperCoalBlox 7 ปีที่แล้ว +278

      Excuse me what about Kim Kardashian dad? He created Kim

    • @tenitovazquez8313
      @tenitovazquez8313 7 ปีที่แล้ว +125

      Wrong Ray J made her famous

    • @Yusuf1187
      @Yusuf1187 7 ปีที่แล้ว +185

      I disagree. Yes, the Mona Lisa is MORE famous than it would otherwise be without the publicity of being stolen. People want to bring down everything valued by society, but it's not just pure manufactured interest. Remember, tons of other paintings have received different opinions and glowing praise, but the Mona Lisa's fame stuck because it is a genuinely wonderful painting in its own right.
      Like I said in my other comment:
      The Mona Lisa is not the most impressively realistic painting, it's not the most powerful imagery, etc.
      But the simplicity and mystery in its concept is I think what makes it interesting even regardless of its history. It is only an image of one woman, nothing else, she has that subtle smile, and the strange background that is an eerily 'empty' foggy valley that looks like it could belong in the pages of some medieval legend. Furthermore, the lines are quite soft, with no major contrasting parts so it's very easy on the eyes. And your focus is drawn right to her face due to the use of light and darkness, and how her face looks at the viewer.
      These things combined give it a certain magical quality. It almost appears dream-like.

    • @franciscaribeiro7441
      @franciscaribeiro7441 7 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      no no, she is more like smells like teen spirit

  • @VulpeculaJoy
    @VulpeculaJoy 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2427

    So, is the Mona Lisa the first art meme?

    • @patwaspatted4972
      @patwaspatted4972 7 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      yes very

    • @HeavyMetalMouse
      @HeavyMetalMouse 7 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      If not the first, certainly among the most successful and long-lived.

    • @aliveagain
      @aliveagain 7 ปีที่แล้ว +93

      Exactly what I thought. Kinda how the Harambe memes started, --but he isn't coming back for the big reveal.

    • @HellsJerome87
      @HellsJerome87 7 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Google "giant snails and knights"

    • @andrewkful
      @andrewkful 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Memes have been around forever!

  • @Thoran666
    @Thoran666 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4552

    I saw the painting IRL and was disappointed. Very small, rather boring compared to the rest.

    • @Xaw13
      @Xaw13 4 ปีที่แล้ว +226

      I had the same reaction when seeing the Persistence of Memory by Dalí for the first time... Soooo small!

    • @stefunyie
      @stefunyie 4 ปีที่แล้ว +666

      *when you see ur mans pp in real life* -

    • @splooya1033
      @splooya1033 4 ปีที่แล้ว +89

      Thoran666 that’s what she said

    • @patrickrivera8004
      @patrickrivera8004 4 ปีที่แล้ว +287

      Thoran666 Totally agree. When I went to Paris, there was a whole, large room JUST for the Mona Lisa. It was super packed and crowded I had to literally push through the crowd to see her. When I got to the front, all I saw was a painting that would be in any museum in general, basically. Overall, it’s a good painting but it’s a tad overrated.

    • @erenyeager-jr2ch
      @erenyeager-jr2ch 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      I’ve never seen it. I had wanted to but idk now

  • @SyedMBaqir-wr8xj
    @SyedMBaqir-wr8xj 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3671

    The Mona Lisa is still, nevertheless, a thousand times better than bananas literally hung at art galleries these days.

    • @mystari4445
      @mystari4445 4 ปีที่แล้ว +194

      "No no, he's got a point."

    • @gavinreid5387
      @gavinreid5387 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Taped.

    • @yelansdeodorant2026
      @yelansdeodorant2026 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Wait that exist?

    • @malachi5813
      @malachi5813 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Amen

    • @selfshotproductions
      @selfshotproductions 4 ปีที่แล้ว +120

      The point of the banana taped to the wall was a social commentary on the commodification of modern art, and how a value can be assigned to just about anything, regardless of quality, skill, or merit. There are parallels to be drawn between the banana and the hype behind the Mona Lisa...

  • @Kabitu1
    @Kabitu1 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1164

    That blank face at the end was so unsettling for some reason.

    • @evolvingemmy
      @evolvingemmy 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Reminds me of a dark fantasy book I read where the god of the dead punished his inmates by stealing their identity, leaving them to wander eternity with no faces & no voice.
      Book: Prince of Lies

  • @TomHasVideo
    @TomHasVideo 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2357

    *begin video*
    "It was stolen"
    *end video*

    • @kenm908
      @kenm908 7 ปีที่แล้ว +61

      that doesnt explain why people cared it was stolen though.

    • @grahamrich9956
      @grahamrich9956 7 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      +Ken M Why do stupid things go viral? It's the oddity of human nature.

    • @mitchjohnson4714
      @mitchjohnson4714 7 ปีที่แล้ว +51

      You people are missing a major point of the video, which is that she provides a blank slate onto which professional critics and amateurs alike can write a bunch of flowery prose to make it look like art criticism is some kind of arcane discipline.

    • @kenm908
      @kenm908 7 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Mitch Johnson how smart do you think you are?

    • @ThreeLetters3
      @ThreeLetters3 7 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Tom I wish videos would start with that, then be the actual video

  • @qspnaserdf
    @qspnaserdf 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1758

    I remember, when I was little, I was so scared of the Mona Lisa. Now when I look back at that, I feel so stupid.

  • @youdontneedtoreadthis
    @youdontneedtoreadthis 6 ปีที่แล้ว +473

    That's a cool story but i'd replace the word overrated with overhyped. Media coverage indeed made the painting more famous than it needed to be. But it's a bloody damn great painting. And i know so not because i've read critics' explanations of light and shadow this and composition that but because i have my own eyes. This is undeniably a magnetic image. It simply has the exact recipe for drawing the spectator in and that recipe was masterfully executed. I am absolutely certain that anyone who gives a crap about art, visuals, or simply things that look good will agree that this painting is something else, even among leonardo's fantastic array of works.
    But it's definitely overhyped with people claiming there are sectet messages in there, often the painting is even said to be connected to the illuminati and whatnot. Basically there have been a ton of conspiracies around mona lisa for centuries which perpetuated the hype more and more.
    But there's no doubt the painting itself deserves all the praise it has received.

    • @Hankblue
      @Hankblue 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      I disagree, if a modern artist today painted plain-looking-woman-stares-musefully-at-you it would likely get no special attention.

    • @melanianderson4471
      @melanianderson4471 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      i agree, there are so many paintings that are overlooked

    • @HAL.9000
      @HAL.9000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@Hankblue That’s because it’s been done for ages now. The Mona Lisa was a one of a kind revolutionary piece at the time.

    • @Hankblue
      @Hankblue 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@HAL.9000 Yes, but it's not anymore. Which begs the question why it still has such a massive viewership..

    • @HAL.9000
      @HAL.9000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@Hankblue Well a big part (maybe the biggest part) of art is the story and the history behind the piece. Yes modern artists can paint something similar but that wouldn't be interesting since it's been done for ages and the artist brings nothing new to the table.

  • @DerpsGW
    @DerpsGW 7 ปีที่แล้ว +708

    When I saw it at the Louvre, I thought it was a great painting...but really it was more about the awe of being near the most famous painting in the world.

  • @tbplayerz
    @tbplayerz 7 ปีที่แล้ว +730

    Did you know that x-ray technology has revealed there are 3 other versions of the Mona Lisa painted underneath.

    • @eeewww8569
      @eeewww8569 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Never knew that!

    • @kima_95
      @kima_95 4 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      Source?

    • @madpillow5665
      @madpillow5665 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Da Vinci

    • @guganesan.ilavarasan
      @guganesan.ilavarasan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      3 years, 3 months & 3 days.

    • @CharDhue
      @CharDhue 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Or just like my dad did
      He dont like his old painting so he make another one above it

  • @mBUSHattack
    @mBUSHattack 7 ปีที่แล้ว +754

    It's just another example of how meaning that we take as absolute because it's been the same our entire lives usually has mundane and arbitrary origins, typically not befitting the pedestal we've placed the thoughts on.

    • @eve36368
      @eve36368 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      why existentialism is accurate. +Dee Wye also if it's existed for several generations it merely means the meanings bubble hasn't been popped.

    • @lozero
      @lozero 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Michael Bush well... Da Vinci was considered a one of a kind genius already when he was alive and that one painting followed him all his life... He never considered it finished...
      It actually is a very special piece of art

    • @eve36368
      @eve36368 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      lo zero reminds me of my trans self. So I'm buying the interpretation da vinci was essentially a trans woman drawing a portrait of herself since she couldn't modify her own body

    • @annerison
      @annerison 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      For some reason when I read this comment, I thought of Christianity. But this is true of all religions.

    • @K4R3N
      @K4R3N 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Mecca was underwhelming I found out in 2005

  • @steph.li3
    @steph.li3 4 ปีที่แล้ว +423

    The fact that y’all are discrediting the genius of Da Vinci just bc his painting is famous is so absurd

    • @hiptydiptateejack8712
      @hiptydiptateejack8712 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Her cleavage is done wrong. Even Mikey himself couldn't draw an actual woman's figure correctly.

    • @CharDhue
      @CharDhue 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Not really i like his many other work but monalisa is kinda normal to me not a masterpiece but good one noetheless

    • @jackwyatt3854
      @jackwyatt3854 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Looking at art is whatever it’s just like a picture

    • @onthewattle
      @onthewattle 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Jack Wyatt wow. Very profound....

    • @bossbabyfuyuhiko6657
      @bossbabyfuyuhiko6657 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      He's dead anyways.

  • @Jack_The_Ladd
    @Jack_The_Ladd 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1377

    How life became overrated.

    • @WitchVulgar
      @WitchVulgar 7 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      How the show "Seinfeld" became overrated.

    • @-AAA-147
      @-AAA-147 7 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      How Kappa became overrated.

    • @sintonia4339
      @sintonia4339 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      AAA How Smash Bros became overrated

    • @eve36368
      @eve36368 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      because oppression.

    • @ResearcherKeagan
      @ResearcherKeagan 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      How feminism became overrated.

  • @forgotmyusername5093
    @forgotmyusername5093 7 ปีที่แล้ว +683

    So basically it's because she went missing

    • @mitchjohnson4714
      @mitchjohnson4714 7 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      You people are missing a major point of the video, which is that she provides a blank slate onto which professional critics and amateurs alike can write a bunch of flowery prose to make it look like art criticism is some kind of arcane discipline.

    • @snicks34
      @snicks34 7 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      I mean, she was already a masterpiece, it wouldn't have been as big a deal if it wasn't a really good painting. It's just that most people don't really care that much about art, unless there's some sort of real-life drama mixed in.

    • @Pinkrevenge101
      @Pinkrevenge101 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      +Ross Granick Bluntly put. Modern people or the general public don't see the artistic qualities. Except that her eyes follow you, no eyebrows, and creepy smile. That's Da Vinci's painting at work, his technique and ominous feeling he gave it. The time period it was painted the Renaissance=Rebirth of classical Greco-Roman art and the techniques he used to paint it makes it a masterpiece. People know about it widely in this time period because of the drama associated with it not for what it is, a painting by one of the masters in the Renaissance.

    • @jaqueline5846
      @jaqueline5846 7 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Ahhh...at 5:00, there's your answer. Kind of like some people don't become famous until after they're dead...After this painting was stolen, people started talking about her because they were forced to find what was so meaningful about it, and to highlight it...so she's not "famous for nothing", rather, she's famous for being the epitome of a critic's blank canvas. It's about finding your own meaning. And that's the mystery she brings- that just when you thought she couldn't be talked about more, here we are trying to get in on it and decipher more meaning for ourselves.

    • @syafiqamirul2193
      @syafiqamirul2193 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Forgotmyusername come to kardashian club

  • @joshuamajors989
    @joshuamajors989 6 ปีที่แล้ว +655

    So the Mona Lisa can be considered overrated but an entirely white canvas isn't? Okay then

    • @nataliedavis8949
      @nataliedavis8949 4 ปีที่แล้ว +95

      I think it's more just "Why did THIS painting become so famous when he painted so mant others?" As opposed to "Its not that good"

    • @danield.6472
      @danield.6472 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      It is though to anyone not pretentious

    • @alexrivers8163
      @alexrivers8163 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I mean shes not that special, and there may actually be two of them. I find van Gogh's work much more interesting.

    • @yash124
      @yash124 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      *I think for White canvas we have to invent new word because overrated is underrated for that*

    • @jasonlee6227
      @jasonlee6227 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      But is that white canvas as famous as the Mona Lisa? Is it as iconic an image as the Mona Lisa? Is it on refrigerator magnets, mentioned in commercials, the subject of songs, articles, mentioned in the movies, TV shows etc.

  • @paris2777
    @paris2777 4 ปีที่แล้ว +55

    “Yoshikage Kira has entered the chat.”

    • @akimizuhana881
      @akimizuhana881 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      i went to the comments searching for this

  • @toad1694
    @toad1694 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3656

    I love Vox's informative and intriguing videos. Buzzfeed is just garbage

    • @liamprendergast4598
      @liamprendergast4598 7 ปีที่แล้ว +93

      How dare you try to compare buzzfeed to vox!

    • @gabohernandez1217
      @gabohernandez1217 7 ปีที่แล้ว +161

      Vox is a smarter buzzfeed

    • @duesalbladesinger7900
      @duesalbladesinger7900 7 ปีที่แล้ว +157

      Buzzfeed is nowhere NEAR the level Vox is at. Every video at Vox is practically a documentary smooshed into a couple minutes. Every video at Buzzfeed is little more than memes and propaganda.

    • @catbatbomb
      @catbatbomb 7 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @Mrjoelucaj CNN isn't liberal, it's corporate

    • @treyforest2466
      @treyforest2466 7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      +MrJoeLucaj Maybe, but there isn't really any political agenda in this video, so does it matter here?

  • @WatchItMelt
    @WatchItMelt 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3352

    I can't stop daydreaming of the Mona Lisa slowly dissolving in a bathtub full of paint thinner.

    • @Utuberd0
      @Utuberd0 7 ปีที่แล้ว +146

      you monster!

    • @npthedarkside27
      @npthedarkside27 7 ปีที่แล้ว +281

      Not all heroes wear capes

    • @comedyman112
      @comedyman112 7 ปีที่แล้ว +137

      Are you Mr Bean?

    • @AngelValdovinos
      @AngelValdovinos 7 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      nice try but the thinner wont do anything

    • @WatchItMelt
      @WatchItMelt 7 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Really??

  • @Annimations
    @Annimations 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes! Please make more of these! I've been looking for this forever. Why stuff became important, the actual historical reasons not the "art reason".

  • @scoutic
    @scoutic 5 ปีที่แล้ว +107

    Plot twist:
    Yoshikage Kira was the one who actually stole the Mona Lisa.

  • @PikaPetey
    @PikaPetey 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4514

    shows you that art is subjective and just a popular game. JUST LIKE TH-cam CHANNELS.

    • @dariomasi9
      @dariomasi9 7 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      Why are you everywhere, love ur animations btw

    • @TheTrippleTKA
      @TheTrippleTKA 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      lol you think you can comment something "balanced" to make it seem like it's not you who's replying to himself.

    • @dariomasi9
      @dariomasi9 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      +TheTrippleTKA what u meen?

    • @TheTrippleTKA
      @TheTrippleTKA 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      dariomasi9 "why are you everywhere." "oh and I LOVE your animations btw" -- stop replying to yourself

    • @PikaPetey
      @PikaPetey 7 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      ***** im not Dariomasi9 that is someone who legit enjoys my animations.

  • @firefalcoln
    @firefalcoln 7 ปีที่แล้ว +341

    It's incredible how many people don't realize or notice that the Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.

    • @MrGollum1996
      @MrGollum1996 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      i noticed it before you said

    • @daverigby23
      @daverigby23 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Neither has Vermeer's Girl with a pearl earring

    • @hoe1601
      @hoe1601 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I never noticed

    • @AikiraBeats
      @AikiraBeats 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Brian Johnson ive noticed that

    • @rickyperales3377
      @rickyperales3377 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Brian Johnson she does have eyebrows

  • @joy-nb1xd
    @joy-nb1xd 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I understand nothing about art, I'll admit it, but when I went to the Louvre, having zero expectations about liking the Mona Lisa, I was actually extremely captivated by it. I've felt hypnotized and in owe. There were many people around it and the painting is small, but to this days I'm still so happy I've seen it 'cause I had a glimpse of Leonardo Da Vinci genius.
    Therefore I can't say that it's "overrated"

  • @LittleB2007
    @LittleB2007 6 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    When I finally visited Louvre, I was shocked to see how small the most famous painting in the world actually was. lol
    A little after that I went to Hermitage in Leningrad (yes the city was still called that) and was shocked to see how HUGE Henri Matisse's "La Danse" was. I loved the latter experience much more

  • @DutchTDK
    @DutchTDK 7 ปีที่แล้ว +72

    When you enter the hall of mona lisa on a calm day you are greeted by a plain looking wall. On this wall you see a big bulletproof casket with a rather small painting inside. It's a special moment but after all you've seen it a thousand times already online.
    after a few seconds of taking in the moment, you turn around.
    then you are greeted by large masterpieces filled with detail and meaning. beautiful pieces of art, yet only covered by a red lint.

    • @JoycePinto
      @JoycePinto 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      yes! i was underwhelmed by mona but blown away by that painting

  • @element1935
    @element1935 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1225

    One of the only channel on yt that keep quality>quantity

  • @mimamo
    @mimamo 6 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    A little correction: The Sistine Madonna never was displayed in the Louvre, but was and is a part of Dresden's Old Masters Gallery.

    • @looxluthor802
      @looxluthor802 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Was looking for this.. apparently every painting in the world is actually in the Louvre.

  • @alex.a.303
    @alex.a.303 6 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Absence makes the 'Art' grow fonder - in people's imagination of what they're missing out on, and then they get to see it, echo the proclamation of its press writers.
    Funny how our perception of art is often dependent on 'experts' view on what is beautiful and refine about it.

  • @tessat338
    @tessat338 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1289

    On a high school art trip to Europe when I was sixteen, I had a strong and unexpected reaction to seeing the Mona Lisa. Wondering lost through the Louvre, not speaking or reading French very well, with limited time to see that painting and everything else on my syllabus, after passing "Winged Victory" again for about the fifth time, I finally found my way into the correct gallery. As I scanned through the room, my eyes hit a crowd made up of the backs of people's heads. It appeared as if she was giving the throng her polite attention, like a bored but patient celebrity in a long receiving line. Someone moved out of the way and our eyes locked. I recognized her, but felt a sudden shock as it also seemed as if she recognized me and her beginning of a smile was in reaction to seeing me walk into the room. I remember shaking my head and thinking, "Oh, Lady! I've been looking every where for you." As I shouldered through the crowd to get closer, her eyes seemed to sparkle back with humor as if to say, "I've been waiting right here for you for over a century. Where have you been all this time?"
    Leonardo's genius is that he caught that instant; the moment when she spots you and lights up at the sight of you. Her attention seems personal and piercing, as if everyone else around her has just lost her attention and she is fighting the impulse to crack into a giant grin at the sight of your face. You can tell that she is done with the crowd and is ready to go off and have lunch or something with you and to have a nice catch up to see how you've been. It's like meeting a celebrity and finding out that they were a great admirer of yours and had been really looking forward to your meeting with anticipation. She gives the impression that seeing you is the highlight of her very long day. Like you've kept her waiting, but she just can't be mad at you, even though she knows she should be.
    I've never had a similar reaction to any other painting, certainly not to Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci, the only work of his in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Ginevra is just the opposite. She looks tired, pale, uncomfortable and ill. I can only guess that Leonardo really liked Mona Lisa and found her charming and just didn't like Genevra as much.

    • @NaritaZaraki
      @NaritaZaraki 7 ปีที่แล้ว +172

      Wow! Your comment really makes me want to see the painting in real life. You make her sound so magical! :D

    • @tessat338
      @tessat338 7 ปีที่แล้ว +87

      Photos of the painting only convey the image, not the experience. Definitely go if you ever get a chance. I'll have to content myself with Rembrandt's self- portrait in the National Gallery of Art. His eye follow me around the room but he doesn't look pleased to see me.

    • @Luciusse
      @Luciusse 7 ปีที่แล้ว +105

      What I love about this painting is that it means to me something so different than the feeling you described, and yet I completely understand what you establish, about her look, about her face, about the crowd she's in front of.
      I had the chance to see it multiple time in my life since I live in France and going to Paris is not hard at all, and every time I saw her, it was in different and similar ways. She always has that look and smile, which basically means the same thing, and yet I interpreted her in different ways, depending on the conditions. Wether the room was crowded or nearly emtpy, wether I thought the painting would be bigger than what we described to me, or smaller than it was in my memory, wether I went to the Louvre just to see her, passing by, just to say her hello, or simply wandering in the museum and run into her by complete hazard, she looked at me like saying "Hey, I was waiting for you", or "It's been a long time. You grew up.", or "Don't worry about me, I'm not moving, go do much more important things." or "You changed a lot. It suits you well."
      I would love to see her again, now that my personnality is well defined, and that I realized art is more than an entertainment. Just to interpret her new reaction.

    • @soumyasrivastava287
      @soumyasrivastava287 7 ปีที่แล้ว +53

      Tessa T I love your imagination. Not everybody has the power to see certain things and interpret them in these ways. well im happy that you do. :')

    • @spaceboy6178
      @spaceboy6178 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Tessa T Love your comment♥

  • @ryleeroo
    @ryleeroo 7 ปีที่แล้ว +587

    Funnily enough, I was just wondering this exact question yesterday. Thanks Vox!

    • @adityakhanna113
      @adityakhanna113 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Well, even if 100K people watch it.
      it's probable that someone might have just thought of the same thing that day.

    • @Fitch75
      @Fitch75 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      SAME LOL

    • @Sean-tn5nv
      @Sean-tn5nv 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I googled it a few years back haha "why is the Mona Lisa so famous?"

    • @typo691
      @typo691 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      It's 'funnily enough'.

    • @Aviii_
      @Aviii_ 7 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Guy edited it. So before you tell Typo (Nice name by the way) that "That's what the guy said.", it's edited.

  • @devilsacolyte6268
    @devilsacolyte6268 6 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    "art thief fan-fiction"

  • @theweetod6410
    @theweetod6410 6 ปีที่แล้ว +75

    The Mona Lisa was the VERY first painting that had someone smiling.

    • @Katamar13
      @Katamar13 5 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Prove it

    • @reese9705
      @reese9705 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Yeah, source?

    • @jellybeanchris
      @jellybeanchris 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hmmm... im running through my brain for paintings older than that with a smile...u might just be right... lemme do some research

    • @anatomicallycorrectmuppets8180
      @anatomicallycorrectmuppets8180 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      So?

    • @stuckonaslide
      @stuckonaslide 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@anatomicallycorrectmuppets8180 your name is based

  • @AnimeBallsDeep
    @AnimeBallsDeep 7 ปีที่แล้ว +860

    80%?! whoa!!

    • @halithegreat3240
      @halithegreat3240 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      u watch vox??!?!?!?!?!?!?!

    • @AnimeBallsDeep
      @AnimeBallsDeep 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      HaliTheGreat yes

    • @halithegreat3240
      @halithegreat3240 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Anime Balls Deep coo bra

    • @anti-socialsenpai794
      @anti-socialsenpai794 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Balls deep what you doing here😂😂😂so your more of a history guy huh.

    • @lumi5056
      @lumi5056 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      And the other 20% is i have too much time and i like paintings so why not go there

  • @Neontronique
    @Neontronique 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2182

    When you visit her in the louvre every chick is trying to take selfies with it.

    • @joeyad2626
      @joeyad2626 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Karl Fernandez-Cao lol

    • @seithroil
      @seithroil 6 ปีที่แล้ว +137

      Yeah I'm not going to take a straight on picture? It won't be better than any other photo of it. But there will only me one photo of me with the Mona Lisa.

    • @DaleKamp
      @DaleKamp 6 ปีที่แล้ว +98

      My girlfriend didn't even want to see it, choosing instead to focus on the other beautiful paintings there.

    • @LisaNarozhnykh
      @LisaNarozhnykh 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      So true

    • @SteppingStonevlogs
      @SteppingStonevlogs 6 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      Rather than photo the painting itself, when I saw the Mona Lisa I decided to make a video showing all the many people crowding around the painting...all taking selfies!

  • @jayjayjayjay5605
    @jayjayjayjay5605 6 ปีที่แล้ว +33

    2:08 HONESTLY HAVING YOUR HOMETOWN REFERENCED IN A RANDOM VIDEO ABOUT MONA LISA BEING A MEME IS THE MOST SURREAL AND TERRIFYING SENTENCE OF ALL TIME

  • @heytherejay04
    @heytherejay04 7 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    The thing about the Mona Lisa is that it's not even da Vinci's greatest work, it's pretty ok compared to his other works. But the one thing that really makes it stand out to me is the use of sfumato and the softness of the piece.

  • @darkmater4tm
    @darkmater4tm 7 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    Finally. An explanation that makes sense to me. Mona Lisa is one of least interesting paintings I have ever bothered to see, yet people keep talking about how she smiles, how beautiful she is (huh?) and how brilliant the triangles on the background are. The triangles on the background!

  • @tysonasaurus6392
    @tysonasaurus6392 7 ปีที่แล้ว +631

    The Mona Lisa is very well painted, but it isn't visually interesting or "creative" or unique

    • @adityakhanna113
      @adityakhanna113 7 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Mona Lisa is good because of Leo not because of Mona, Right?

    • @NighteeeeeY
      @NighteeeeeY 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      sir, you have no savvy about art and the meaning of the mona lisa.

    • @tysonasaurus6392
      @tysonasaurus6392 7 ปีที่แล้ว +50

      NighteeeeeY I'm just saying it has no visual appeal, has nothing to do with the "artistic meaning" (while you curl your mustache giving me a condescending look through your monocle). What is so great about a painting with an emotionless face, that is practically what my face is the majority of the day or in any of my photos, it isn't special in any way.

    • @insertphrasehere15
      @insertphrasehere15 7 ปีที่แล้ว +53

      the Whole point of the painting style Da vinci used was that the soft edges of the eyes and mouth make it difficult to pin down exactly what expression she is giving the viewer. This is why different people, or even the same person at different times see different expressions on her face. This video is correct that the painting is a 'blank slate' but not in the way that the creator of this video means, her expression is the blank slate.
      It isn't overrated, Da vinci was the first to use this style of painting, and today we use makeup and airbrushing in photoshop to achieve the same effect on real life models. What does that tell you?

    • @tysonasaurus6392
      @tysonasaurus6392 7 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      insertcleverphrasehere so what if we can't pin down her expression, no offense to Da Vinci because I think he has some amazing work but Mona Lisa is not that great, I'm not saying in terms of quality because it is very well done.

  • @carolinaalves239
    @carolinaalves239 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This is so cool! My mom is called Gioconda after this painting and yeah, this is pretty cool ❤️

  • @lindalee7322
    @lindalee7322 6 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    Quite frankly, Mona Lisa is rather ordinary. In the time period that she lived, it was very popular to pluck off eyebrows and pull out your eyelashes.

  • @randomtinypotatocried
    @randomtinypotatocried 7 ปีที่แล้ว +130

    I saw her in person and I was not impressed. Sadly, I found the paintings surrounding the area more interesting.

    • @AikiraBeats
      @AikiraBeats 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Kael M very true

    • @MarianaAnselmo30
      @MarianaAnselmo30 6 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Kay M and all the people crowded like animals to take selfies with it makes it worse

    • @BarbaraBrasileiro
      @BarbaraBrasileiro 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Me too!

    • @emiliecrtn9464
      @emiliecrtn9464 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      I go to the Louvre every holidays (and I'm French so I have a lot of holidays), I sometimes happens to be in the Mona Lisa room... To see the Wedding of Cana.

    • @emiliecrtn9464
      @emiliecrtn9464 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Why "sadly"? The paintings in the area are soooo gorgeous and poetic

  • @TheFourthWinchester
    @TheFourthWinchester 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1485

    Atleast Mona Lisa is actual art. Overrated are those which they call 'modern art' and herald blank papers as *masterpieces*.

    • @DavidRodriguez-ux5ye
      @DavidRodriguez-ux5ye 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      TheFourthWinchester the fountain that thing is just bullshit

    • @mobydicki9060
      @mobydicki9060 7 ปีที่แล้ว +175

      The fact that you talk about "actual art" means you don't understand art.

    • @willow9571
      @willow9571 6 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Well whilst I do agree with you about understanding you also have to consider the complexity involved in the creation of it .

    • @futurestoryteller
      @futurestoryteller 5 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      Personally I'm fine with this kind of experimentation, "What is art, really?" is a valid artistic and philosophical question worth addressing creatively, and in this case, paradoxically... sometimes... making something that doesn't seem creative is the most creative way to ask the question; but I wonder when modern artists decided that "What is art, really?" was the *only* valid question an artist could pose to be taken seriously. It feels like narcissistic navel gazing.

    • @noordeepkaur7795
      @noordeepkaur7795 5 ปีที่แล้ว +50

      so you mean to you only realism is 'actual art'?

  • @hhhhh-me1fb
    @hhhhh-me1fb 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Tbh Mona Lisa is amazing, if you look at it from any angle it always looks like she’s loooking at you. It has so many techniques that were ahead of its time. It’s also widely iconic. It’s not just some realistic eye drawings, it’s something that has a lot of amazing techniques

  • @vincentrivas2206
    @vincentrivas2206 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    See, I was right. People only care when you’re gone.

  • @HeyRussianCommissar
    @HeyRussianCommissar 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1181

    I actually painted the Mona Lisa.

    • @HeyRussianCommissar
      @HeyRussianCommissar 7 ปีที่แล้ว +107

      ***** You were dead in 1956 you silly billy.

    • @PaulyRenzeth
      @PaulyRenzeth 7 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      Stalin got burned.

    • @Cryzark
      @Cryzark 7 ปีที่แล้ว +77

      You made this? I made this.

    • @HeyRussianCommissar
      @HeyRussianCommissar 7 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Victor Alpert A swastika would be black, red and white actually.

    • @sergimartin7180
      @sergimartin7180 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Good Job!

  • @meitsi
    @meitsi 7 ปีที่แล้ว +141

    Last time I came this early, I got laughed at.

    • @KK-fe8tu
      @KK-fe8tu 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Hahahahahaha

    • @element1935
      @element1935 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      you're not early but on time

    • @maldoran9150
      @maldoran9150 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I don't understand where "must of" comes from...

    • @kefkapalazzo1
      @kefkapalazzo1 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      because must've sounds like must of

    • @eggycat
      @eggycat 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Precisely.

  • @mikayari185
    @mikayari185 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    *when i looked at that picture.. how do i say this, this may sound crude.. but..*
    she actually is fine..

  • @marissabones
    @marissabones 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it 🙃

  • @selj8287
    @selj8287 7 ปีที่แล้ว +81

    People wrote fanfiction of her absence? Woah fanfics are lurking in the society centuries ago

  • @theorosef
    @theorosef 7 ปีที่แล้ว +72

    "... there's one more ermine."
    now THAT'S my kind of art critic

  • @elisabethphantomhive8700
    @elisabethphantomhive8700 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    One of the most interesting things about seeing the Mona Lisa in real life was all the people just... not seeing it. There was a half-hour line for getting close to the mona Lisa, and everyone in line was looking at their phone. When they did actually get close to the painting they took 5 seconds to take a picture with it (backs turned towards the painting) and left without even looking at it. It's a shame, because although it might be overrated, I loved taking the time to actually look at it and seeing all the skills that went into it.

  • @muzhirasadeek6431
    @muzhirasadeek6431 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    although i read Dan Brown's works and there seems to be more behind just the mystery of her smile, it's really interesting, you should check his works out

  • @WerewolfEnjoyer
    @WerewolfEnjoyer 7 ปีที่แล้ว +534

    You could land a helicopter on that baked potato forehead.

    • @atiithe
      @atiithe 7 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      omg

    • @TheGameNoire
      @TheGameNoire 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      How is that funny?

    • @JovianKronos
      @JovianKronos 7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      It's a line from a satirical song about how the Mona Lisa is literally overrated

    • @TheGameNoire
      @TheGameNoire 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      The song probably isnt funny either.

    • @KyleClippers
      @KyleClippers 7 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      well aren't you a happy chap

  • @Yusuf1187
    @Yusuf1187 7 ปีที่แล้ว +304

    The Mona Lisa is not the most impressively realistic painting, it's not the most powerful imagery, etc.
    But the simplicity and mystery in its concept is I think what makes it interesting even regardless of its history. It is only an image of one woman, nothing else, she has that subtle smile, and the strange background that is an eerily 'empty' foggy valley that looks like it could belong in the pages of some medieval legend. Furthermore, the lines are quite soft, with no major contrasting parts so it's very easy on the eyes. And your focus is drawn right to her face due to the use of light and darkness, and how her face looks at the viewer.
    These things combined give it a certain magical quality. It almost appears dream-like.

    • @remembertotakeshowerspleas355
      @remembertotakeshowerspleas355 7 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Not really. There were plenty of other paintings like it- a portrait of an unnamed woman against a dull background- at the time, and even more today.

    • @oceanusprocellarum6853
      @oceanusprocellarum6853 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Or maybe Davinci was just too lazy to add anything to the background lol JK

    • @MissionPowerOn
      @MissionPowerOn 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      A

    • @Ziggerath
      @Ziggerath 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      some one who understands the subtleties of the art

    • @MrDanygonc
      @MrDanygonc 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      At least someone gets iy

  • @razernaga14
    @razernaga14 7 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    It's so good because...
    when i was a little boy i looked at her hands sitting in her lap...

  • @Pomoscorzo
    @Pomoscorzo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    When I saw the painting at the Louvre, I had the strangest impression: one moment she was smiling, one moment she wasn't. This happened over and over again. That's when I realized the appeal of the painting and of the "mysterious smile".

  • @ab76254
    @ab76254 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    High production quality, engaging presentation and quality content: this channel is quickly becoming one of my favourites! Great work and really interesting video!

  • @jaydenherrera4177
    @jaydenherrera4177 7 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I remember when I went to Paris and visited the louvre and saw the Mona Lisa, and a bunch of people were talking pictures and it was like you saw it and that was it, interestingly now though the louvre doesn't pay insurance on the painting, they just pay millions of dollars on hand on guards which was actually cheaper than the insurance lol

  • @ritiaggarwal995
    @ritiaggarwal995 6 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    When I visited the Louvre at the age of ten, there were a bunch of paintings better than the Mona Lisa like the one ahead of it. All just stared at the Mona Lisa.
    Why? I still wonder..

  • @jumhed994
    @jumhed994 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    'Mona Lisa' the song by Lonely Island basically describes my feelings towards the painting.

  • @valaethartist
    @valaethartist 7 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    a lot of what was said in this video isn't true. its very clear people don't understand art history and the innovation the Mona Lisa had in the time of the renaissance, driving art to what it is today. its mostly history that makes it famous, and the creation of new techniques (atmospheric perspective, three quarter view, her hands, etc.) that Leonardo davinci created. I'd recommend to learn just a tad bit of art history before criticizing such art (not the video but the comment section). that doesn't mean its the best in the world, but without it art wouldn't be the same

    • @Katamar13
      @Katamar13 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Prove it

    • @MorphRed
      @MorphRed 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@Katamar13 Read the comment, slower

    • @roddrom
      @roddrom 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      basically what you said is exactly what the video explained, people who were into art around that time understood the big deal with the mona lisa, like you, and what you said, but people who never got into art or painting never understood what was all about until it get robbed. That´s why it is overrrated because people who know art and people who don´t know what the mona is all about, a mix of pure art and mysticism.

  • @boy638
    @boy638 7 ปีที่แล้ว +136

    the lonely island wrote a song bout it being overrated

    • @FreakieFan
      @FreakieFan 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      boy638
      What's it called?

    • @Adakechi
      @Adakechi 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Guido Anselmi It's called Mona Lisa, it's from the movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

    • @FreakieFan
      @FreakieFan 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Oh, right, I forgot, haha. I love that movie.

  • @savvh
    @savvh 3 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    Who painted the mona lisa?
    *da vinky?*

  • @kt1pl2
    @kt1pl2 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I've been to the Louvre and seen this painting. I've also seen other DaVinci works. First impression--it's much smaller than you think.

  • @AngryKittens
    @AngryKittens 7 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    She has no eyebrows.

    • @josegomez6549
      @josegomez6549 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Voldemort's wife.

    • @sarah-xc8jh
      @sarah-xc8jh 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      that was the style

    • @KrazyKate859
      @KrazyKate859 7 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      She actually had very fair and thin eyebrows but years of the painting itself decaying make it impossible to see them anymore. Look up Mona Lisa original and you can see what it looked like before it was aged by air, light, and other factors. There have been scans done on the painting (very carefully) in order to know exactly what the original colors were and what was missing from our sight.

  • @terrylambert8149
    @terrylambert8149 7 ปีที่แล้ว +54

    You didn't say anything about how it came to be called Mona Lisa. It's proper title is la giaconda.

    • @adityakhanna113
      @adityakhanna113 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ohhhh..... that's what the news headline said.
      Giaconda

    • @anaraquelana
      @anaraquelana 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Mona lisa because her name was Lisa Gherardini, and Mona=madonna. La Gioconda was because of her husband's name

  • @Decetop
    @Decetop 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I’ve always felt the painting suffered for its lack of ermines.

  • @MustacheCashStash125
    @MustacheCashStash125 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    One time when I was a High School freshman, I drew The Mona Lisa with Jar Jar Binks’s face as a project in Art Class and I called it The Mona Meesa and I showed it to my friends and they thought it was hilarious! 😂😂😂😂

  • @sudhindrak
    @sudhindrak 7 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Time to include a slot in my daily calendar to watching VOX. Super stuff!

  • @isham2044
    @isham2044 7 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    Wtf,does no one actually remembers that the Mona Lisa painting was her with a neutral face(😑) and not her smiling? Mandela effect? Hello?

    • @isham2044
      @isham2044 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ikr

    • @isham2044
      @isham2044 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Im just replying to myself to say I was here FIRST to comment about her 'smile' and to make sure that its time to wake up

    • @spacecadet2827
      @spacecadet2827 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      this whole thread is hilarious

    • @jandroid33
      @jandroid33 7 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      Yeah, in the painting she used to have a big turban too. And one eye used to google. And a tooth was gone. And she used to have huge man hands. That was the awesome version!

    • @adityakhanna113
      @adityakhanna113 7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      +jandroid33 You forgot the drooling.

  • @chrislechat420
    @chrislechat420 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    Outside the room where the Mona Lisa hangs is a painting called La belle ferronnière by Di Vinci...this one is my fave. Seriously underrated.

  • @juansymontano
    @juansymontano 6 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I remember my Art Professor. I told him the painting is ok. Like any other painting. He did not accept it because of some bullshit.

  • @starblomma
    @starblomma 7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Thank you! I never understood why this painting is so famous, so it is really nice to get it explained :-)

  • @woodinco3038
    @woodinco3038 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This video was incredibly eye opening thank you for making this

  • @evulee321
    @evulee321 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    i have the painting in my bathroom, and it creeps me out

    • @milo-sq3sd
      @milo-sq3sd 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      apparantly she can see you no matter where you are in the room

  • @metinakkusoglu7964
    @metinakkusoglu7964 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    You guys are brilliant 👍👍two thumbs up

  • @albinjohn6920
    @albinjohn6920 7 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Vox makes one of the most edited and best informational videos on TH-cam, no doubt.

  • @johootly
    @johootly 7 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Honestly, it's actually an amazing painting but because it's such a common pop culture icon it's desensitised our appreciation for it that it's now just an icon and not really a painting anymore

  • @elevenfourr
    @elevenfourr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    who painted the mona lisa?
    DA VINKYYY?!

  • @katecriner8822
    @katecriner8822 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    Was not expecting my home town (paducah, KY) to make an appearance

  • @JS-hf3oz
    @JS-hf3oz 7 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    I took a humanities class and my professor would talk about how beautiful the painting is... I personally don't see the beauty

    • @STUPIDHUMAN
      @STUPIDHUMAN 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      The beauty comes from the genius-level consideration that was put into making the artwork.
      Just imagine one thing you love about the human face but then imagine that and a hundred other things you love about the human face all put together in a work of art, that's exactly what an artists like Leonardo do.

    • @billolsen4360
      @billolsen4360 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Same here. Let's face it, Rembrandt did better portraits.

    • @chadurot1773
      @chadurot1773 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I am an artist and I see a lot of things behind the painting, dont take it letterally. Try to see and understand how and why the artist did this and did that in the painting, every tiny details has different meaning. If you can not appreciate art how can you appreciate life?life is beautiful and so is art, art comes in many forms, we ourselves are a masterpiece created by God.

  • @alcyonae
    @alcyonae 7 ปีที่แล้ว +165

    How ignorant. In its original colors, Mona Lisa's skin was so supple, with a transparent-like quality, it left the masters at awe. After humidity damage, a Dutch restorer covered it in laquer, so Mona Lisa's colors yellowed.

    • @JiveDadson
      @JiveDadson 7 ปีที่แล้ว +70

      It is standard practice to varnish oil paintings. (Varnish, _not_ lacquer.) Traditional varnish (e.g. Damar) yellows. The varnish needs to be removed and re-applied every few decades. The Louvre is scared to do that. People like her with the jaundiced look, so the jaundiced look stays.

    • @KookiesNolly
      @KookiesNolly 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      what about her eyebrows? where did they go?

    • @lapy9567
      @lapy9567 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      +Eli N.S she never had it in the first place

  • @qaimaali6546
    @qaimaali6546 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Nice topic vox never really thought of it tht way

  • @MariaJoyQuinn
    @MariaJoyQuinn 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Do you have any research to support this story? I'm writing my dissertation on how the painting became famous and could really use some supporting evidence.

  • @gregtheglobal
    @gregtheglobal 7 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    At any given time during the Louvre's operating hours, there gathers a crowd of about 50-60 people that surround the painting that is walled off by posts and ropes and has a large glass cover around it. It took me 10-15 minutes to get the end of the crowd and once I feared my eyes on all her glory I saw only a small painting by a man who was more an accomplished inventor than he was a great painter.

    • @definitelynotofficial7350
      @definitelynotofficial7350 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      He DEFINITELY wasn't a greater inventor than a painter, not by any stretch of the imagination.

  • @andrewandrew599
    @andrewandrew599 7 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Why is the Mona Lisa (1503-1504) being acknowledged by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) important? The painting was famous for centuries at that point.

  • @Cinnamon_gorll
    @Cinnamon_gorll 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    “She’s tryna let you know, she’s been cloned”

  • @evalu2500
    @evalu2500 6 ปีที่แล้ว +192

    Mona Lisa became overrated when Panic! At the Disco made a song about her
    Jk jk jk

  • @GENIUSGT
    @GENIUSGT 7 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    So she's the Twilight film of paintings?

    • @wellesradio
      @wellesradio 7 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      Did you just compare Twilight to the work of Leonardo DaVinci?

    • @GENIUSGT
      @GENIUSGT 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      welles Like he said; blank face. People are projecting onto the painting like women project themselves into the girl.

    • @GENIUSGT
      @GENIUSGT 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ***** Mmm... not really. Usually the artist has a specific intention of why they created something.

  • @myaudiobookschannel3625
    @myaudiobookschannel3625 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    This might sound weird, but I notice that some TH-cam videos with more simple thumbnails tend to get more views. Maybe that's a human thing. The Mona Lisa is considered great because of its simplicity.

  • @Alice-hs9yj
    @Alice-hs9yj 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    I'm going to go and see it in 2 days!so excited

  • @andiolaim
    @andiolaim 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    At 2:41 the video states that the Sistine Madonna by Raphael was in the Louvre, showing an image. But... it's in Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. Right?

    • @bea8861
      @bea8861 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I believe you are correct! While I do not know where the Sistine Madonna was at the time, the sources that Vox used definitely do not say that it is the Louvre’s most famous painting. I read the newspaper that covered this part of the video and it merely says "In European art circles [the Mona Lisa] is considered to rank second only to the 'Sistine Madonna' by Raphael. Both are priceless". No mention of the Sistine Madonna being stored or displayed in the Louvre!

    • @andiolaim
      @andiolaim 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@bea8861 Thank you. That explains the confusion.

  • @rocketraccoon1976
    @rocketraccoon1976 7 ปีที่แล้ว +97

    Is it just me, or does anyone else think she isn't pretty at all?

    • @cutmonalisa4082
      @cutmonalisa4082 6 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      Doesn't "pretty" relative to the time? At that time she could be the prettiest.. Who knows..

    • @pocopunk6657
      @pocopunk6657 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Kinda boring overatted and ugly like Julia Roberts in pretty woman .pretty sure she is the modern day Mona lisa.

    • @saabs1660
      @saabs1660 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Well people back in the olden day's those she was pretty now I don't know..

    • @ohheyy8755
      @ohheyy8755 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Beauty standards change throughout time

    • @annavt1792
      @annavt1792 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Steve Rogers? Is that your name?

  • @soul_robot
    @soul_robot 7 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    It's better than modern art.

  • @raedsakly2463
    @raedsakly2463 7 ปีที่แล้ว

    I visited the "Louvre" two weeks ago and I was astonished by the organisation of the museum and then I arrived at the room of

  • @stephaniepage4334
    @stephaniepage4334 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Does mona lisa have any direct descendants or mona lisa distant descendants may have come from mona lisa siblings?