why do the picture of Mona Lisa so famous???

Question

because of her eyes?

Answer 1

Not the eyes! The "enigmatic smile" :-)

Mona Lisa is a 16th-century oil painting on poplar wood by Leonardo da Vinci, and is, perhaps, the most famous painting in Western art history or even the world. Few other works of art are as romanticised, celebrated, parodied or reproduced. It is owned by the French government and hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

The painting shows a woman looking out at the viewer with what is described as an "enigmatic smile".

Answer 2

I don't know why it's famous, but the thing about the painting that strikes me is that the woman is incredibly plain, yet somehow she draws you to her. Something mysterious in her face makes the painting irresistible. I don't think it's the eyes or the smile, but her expression as a whole. She looks as though she is pondering a major life decision that no-one else knows anything about. Possibly she's thinking of something involving a secret lover; she may be plotting to kill someone; maybe she is contemplating suicide......who knows? The painting is seductive to the world because of the mystery in the lady's face. The eyes are the windows to the soul and the mouth is it's doorway, but she has pulled the blinds and left the door open just a crack. She lets people know she has a secret, but she doesn't give the secret away.

Answer 3

It's not any particular quality of the painting that makes it famous, although it is good. One could accurately say that it is the most famous work of art in the Western world, but it would be fallacious to suppose that it is therefore the best. Rather, a particular set of cirumstances have led to a certain fame, and that fame reinforces itself as the Mona Lisa is endlessly reproduced and referenced in popular culture. Celebrity is self-perpetuating.

First and foremost, the Mona Lisa is famous for being famous.

You can read about it (and its history) here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_lisa

Answer 4

Here's some information on the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, Paris.

This portrait was doubtless painted in Florence between 1503 and 1506. It is thought to be of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo - hence the alternative title, La Gioconda. However, Leonardo seems to have taken the completed portrait to France rather than giving it to the person who commissioned it. It was eventually returned to Italy by Leonardo's student and heir Salai. It is not known how the painting came to be in François I's collection.



Description


Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco Giocondo

The history of the Mona Lisa is shrouded in mystery. Among the aspects which remain unclear are the exact identity of the sitter, who commissioned the portrait, how long Leonardo worked on the painting, how long he kept it, and how it came to be in the French royal collection.
The portrait may have been painted to mark one of two events - either when Francesco del Giocondo and his wife bought their own house in 1503, or when their second son, Andrea, was born in December 1502 after the death of a daughter in 1499. The delicate dark veil that covers Mona Lisa's hair is sometimes considered a mourning veil. In fact, such veils were commonly worn as a mark of virtue. Her clothing is unremarkable. Neither the yellow sleeves of her gown, nor her pleated gown, nor the scarf delicately draped round her shoulders are signs of aristocratic status.


A new artistic formula


The Mona Lisa is the earliest Italian portrait to focus so closely on the sitter in a half-length portrait. The painting is generous enough in its dimensions to include the arms and hands without them touching the frame. The portrait is painted to a realistic scale in the highly structured space where it has the fullness of volume of a sculpture in the round. The figure is shown in half-length, from the head to the waist, sitting in a chair whose arm is resting on balusters. She is resting her left arm on the arm of the chair, which is placed in front of a loggia, suggested by the parapet behind her and the two fragmentary columns framing the figure and forming a "window" looking out over the landscape. The perfection of this new artistic formula explains its immediate influence on Florentine and Lombard art of the early 16th century. Such aspects of the work as the three-quarter view of a figure against a landscape, the architectural setting, and the hands joined in the foreground were already extant in Flemish portraiture of the second half of the 15th century, particularly in the works of Hans Memling. However, the spacial coherence, the atmospheric illusionism, the monumentality, and the sheer equilibrium of the work were all new. In fact, these aspects were also new to Leonardo's work, as none of his earlier portraits display such controlled majesty.


An emblematic smile

The Mona Lisa's famous smile represents the sitter in the same way that the juniper branches represent Ginevra Benci and the ermine represents Cecilia Gallerani in their portraits, in Washington and Krakow respectively. It is a visual representation of the idea of happiness suggested by the word "gioconda" in Italian. Leonardo made this notion of happiness the central motif of the portrait: it is this notion which makes the work such an ideal. The nature of the landscape also plays a role. The middle distance, on the same level as the sitter's chest, is in warm colors. Men live in this space: there is a winding road and a bridge. This space represents the transition between the space of the sitter and the far distance, where the landscape becomes a wild and uninhabited space of rocks and water which stretches to the horizon, which Leonardo has cleverly drawn at the level of the sitter's eyes

Answer 5

TK beat me to it.

She is one heck of a lady, and that faint smile speaks volumes.

People down through the ages (last 500 years), were in adoration over this masterpiece, which had been stolen once, and has about 12 good fakes, each with their own story, and each fake worth a fortune as well.

The French government owned it ever since it was commissioned for Leonardo Da Vinci to do by an Italian nobleman. Lisa was one of his wives, I believe. Since Italy wasn't unified, Leonardo had to flee Italy and he gave it to a French King for safekeeping.

This is all I can add to from all the good info TK provided.

Answer 6

Another theory - The Mona Lisa is actually the artist's (Leonardo Da Vinchi) own portrait!!!

Answer 7

Her energy in her face and there is a little story behind it i was a stolen treasure and no1 new that it was valuable til they found who painted it. The artist Leo he love it and hid it in a box and when he was 45 some1 stole and l8er he died so ur answer is the person in the picture and the artist

Answer 8

Not only her looks but she was painted by a famous artist Leonardo Da Vinci.

Answer 9

Stupid ignorant idiot. The painting is done by Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest artist, mathematician and philosopher the world has ever had. Her eyes, no matter which angle you view it from, will always stare into yours. Look to the left, her eyes, seemingly, moves to the left; and both pairs of eyes maintain eye contact.

Answer 10

because the painting was created so no matter what direction you are looking at it from...her eyes seem to still be looking right at ya...pretty freaky if you ask me..I've seen it in the gallery once..it is truly amazing.