Mona lisa once ended up in napoleon s bedroom

HOW THE MONA LISA ONCE ENDED UP IN NAPOLEON'S BEDROOM
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BY S. FLANNAGAN/UPDATED: SEPT. 17, 2021 12:01 PM EST
He is one of the most compelling and discussed figures in history, a military conqueror and political genius who dominated the western world and took for his own everything in sight, rising to become Emperor of France, and ruler of a vast European empire. She is one of the most famous and enduring faces on planet earth, though no one is quite certain of who she actually is.



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His life and times remain bitterly divisive. Her smile, alluringly enigmatic. What was Napoleon Bonaparte's relationship with the "Mona Lisa," Leonardo da Vinci's greatest masterpiece? The answer is simple: he hung it, like a teenager hangs a band poster, on his bedroom wall (per The Regency Redingote).

That the most powerful man in Europe should end up possessing so intimately the most famous and coveted work of Renaissance art is not exactly unexpected, but neither is it simply a historical oddity. In fact, such a confluence can tell us much about how freely Napoleon wielded his power in the early 1800s.

THE MONA LISA: THE SYMBOL OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE'S ULTIMATE POWER
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Napoleon Bonaparte was not alone in being a French ruler who sought to hold the "Mona Lisa" in his private possession. King Francois I was the first French owner of the renowned Da Vinci painting, according to PBS.

Francois had been a lifelong patron of the Renaissance artist, and the Mona Lisa Foundation's website describes how the "Mona Lisa" was sold to the king at the time of Leonardo's death by the artist's assistant, Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, aka Salai.

Per PBS, da Vinci's masterpiece thereafter hung in the Francois' luxurious bathhouse, the "Apartement des Bains," presumably not too close to the steam room, and entered France's National Collection as early as the 16th Century. After being passed down to a succession of French monarchs, the painting was hidden away in a warehouse for protection during the French Revolution.

Napoleon became First Consul of France in 1799, and after a series of mostly successful military campaigns, he was already all-powerful. According to The Regency Redingote, it was around this time that Napoleon's love affair with the famous painting began — the "Mona Lisa" was by this time hanging in the Louvre — giving her the nickname the ";;Sphinx of the Occident" in reference to the riddle her expression seems to pose. He ordered that she be taken to his private quarters, and with no one willing to argue with him, that's where she stayed, until 1804, by which time Napoleon was Emperor.

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THE REAL REASON THE MONA LISA IS SO VALUABLE
Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images
BY TOM MEISFJORD/NOV. 26, 2019 2:13 PM EST
If you've ever been to the Louvre, you no doubt remember the tingling anticipation as you approached the crowded room containing the Mona Lisa, or the sense of gravity you felt while elbowing your way through the mass of tourists to catch a glimpse of the universally admired masterwork. And then, unavoidably, you inched your way to the front of the group, gazed upon the 500 year old painting, and thought to yourself, "That's it?"


The Mona Lisa is perhaps the world's most recognizable piece of artwork. It's also, at 21 inches by 30 inches, about the same size as most office break room motivational posters. How did it become the most highly valued painting in the world when it started out as something King Francois I looked at while he pooped?

MONA LISA SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
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Aside from being one of the last great works by a man largely regarded as the greatest mind of his era, the Mona Lisa gets a lot of what's referred to in art circles as "street cred" from its long and sordid history. After a brief stint in Napoleon's bedroom, the painting became a fixture of the Louvre. Then, according to NPR, it started to pick up a reputation in the upper echelons of society as a masterpiece, gaining it an air of sophistication that made art thieves salivate. It was stolen in 1911, causing a media stir and snowballing the painting's notoriety.


As it became a mainstay of the public consciousness, its perceived value skyrocketed, and in 1962, it received an insurance valuation of $100 million, or roughly $840 million when adjusted for inflation. That means that, if they were so inclined and also decided to break their own laws on the subject of pawning off artwork considered to be public property, the French government could sell the painting, use the proceeds to buy a hundred million sets of beginner's acrylics, and maybe try painting something themselves for once instead of riding a dead Italian's coattails for the rest of their lives.

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