g was almost stolen by the duke of Milan. He had raiders launch an attack on the monastery where it was being held. The monastery was demolished but Leonardo got away with it safely, to present to Louis XIII himself. Since then the painting hasn’t passed through the ownership of too many people, but it is still in existence today. During this time period, Leonardo had just dropped a work that wasn’t finished. He was always known for not completing most of his projects, but this one was different. It was saved, but still ruined during the attack.The Mona Lisa was copied over and over again many times. Imitations are easy to recognize because the beauty of the masterpiece is extremely difficult to duplicate (13). The beauty of the subject, the background, and the life effect that it has been given contribute to it being a masterpiece. It was observed over and over again by thousands of people, and each time they were mesmerized. Many different people have had their own imitations. Many didn’t have obvious parts that were needed in the masterpiece. Such as the background wasn’t detailed enough, or her fingers were placed wrong. This could easily determine the copies from the original. This just shows how influential that Leonardo was to some other artists during his time, and even now. Walter Pater compares the way the painting is almost real, and the fact it is only a portrait, in this quote. He expertly describes her as.. “…older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas, and kept their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange webs with Eastern merchants, and, as Leda, was the mother of Helen of Troy, and, as Saint Anne, was the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes.”(14)Just like The Last Supper, the Mona Lisa has begun to deterio...
