Why is the Joconde so famous ?

The first lady of the Musée du Louvre, the Joconde, or Mona Lisa, was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci (1442-1519) during the end of his career. He brought it in France when he left Italia to join the French king François the 1st. This 77x53 cm oil on wood panel causes itself 20% of the museum visits, according to a poll. With the Eiffel Tower, it is the mascot if the city of lights and love since the beginning of the 20th century.
Tourists and even Parisians brave the crowd every day to get the precious selfie in the room 711 of one of the greatest museums of the world, and when you're name is Jay'z you privatize it to get a one-on-one with the pretty Florentine lady, whose we don't know the exact identity yet.
Due to this celebrity, the Joconde was estimated at nearly 1 billion euros. But it was before the sale of the Salvador Mundi last year in the auction house Christie's. Now the price could reach 2 billions or more. Fortunately, the painting belongs to a museum institution, therefore, it is inalienable thanks to the French law.

But there was a time when the Joconde was hung among the Florentine masters and the other works of Leonardo. It was on a wall between several other masters and only specialists and few tourists stopped their walk in front of the portrait. So what was the reason for the sudden promotion, from a few square meters in a gallery to a reinforced box?

In the case of the Joconde, there was a trigger that put her under the spotlights: the robbery in may 11th 1911. A morning, a regular painter in the Louvre comes to draw the lady, but he finds empty the place of the painting. He immediately alerts the guardians. The Joconde is neither in the museum reserve nor in the studios for photographies: It was stolen during the night. Indeed, during the researches, the inspectors find the empty framework and the glass in a corridor of the Louvre. The following day the news is on every newspaper front page and 60 detectives are on the case. But weeks after weeks the investigation doesn't progress and the director of the Museum is forced to resign. Even Picasso and Apollinaire, a famous French writer, are accused because of their interest in the art market and the old master paintings.
During 2 years, the investigations were going nowhere, but one day the thief made a mistake: he tried to sell the stolen painting to a man who knows an old masters paintings expert of the Offices Museum of Florence Italia. He went to the meeting in Italia, but the potential buyer called the police, and the thief was arrested. The identity was forwarded to the French detective, and it turned out that he was a worker hired by the Louvre to craft the framework glass of the Joconde!
Ironically, the thief was considered as a hero in Italia, because Italians thought that the painting was stolen by Napoléon during the war against Italia in the early 19th century, but we know that it's wrong.

When the painting returned to France, it was celebrated like no other artwork was. It was finally the end of the nightmare. After this complete success, the Louvre decided to exhibit the Joconde alone in a place of the museum because there were so many onlookers coming for her. The Joconde became one of the famous pieces of the museum, shading the Vénus de Milo, the tourists favorite until then. However, this episode took place in the early 20th century, so how the Joconde succeeded to remain on the first place on the podium?

First of all the portrait is a career-end work of Leonardo, it concentrates all the inventions of the artist: Flemish landscape and perspective, light and shade, expression of feelings, imitation of nature. Then it's logical that this masterpiece is crucial in art history, and well known by all the connoisseurship. Second of all the Joconde is a perfect example of the part of mystery in the work of Leonardo da Vinci. Indeed, we all know with Hollywood (Da Vinci Code) that Leonardo has a unique writing and draw mysterious machines. With the Joconde there are also speculations and shadow-sides: is it a man? Is it her mistress? Who is she looking to? Is she smiling?
The Joconde is attracting thanks to the part of the secrecy it contains. Everybody can imagine his own story about the meaning of the portrait.

Finally, the Joconde is a universal portrait: the lady doesn't show any sign of religion, of belonging to a group, of nudity. She cannot shock anyone, she talks to people of any ages or cultures. Contrary to works of art which are under criticizes for their nudity or political messages, Leonardo made here a piece that crosses the history without any scandal and a selfie with her can be shared with all your friends without the fear to hurt someone.

To conclude, Leonardo Da Vinci was already a very famous artist in the beginning of the 20th century, but the event of may 11th made the Joconde known to a large public. Years after years she conquered the earth of every part of the world, even up to the counter-cultures, thanks to the universal language of the iconography. Today she looks shy seated in front of the monumental canvas The Feast in the House of Levi by Veronese, however, she still is the matron-in-chief of the museum.