Mona Lisa is losing her smile

Last updated at 10:39 27 April 2004


The Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece of a mysterious woman with a slight smile, is deteriorating quickly, the Louvre Museum said Monday, announcing that an in-depth technical study was being conducted to determine why.

The thin poplar wood panel on which the artwork is painted has undergone a significant deformation since conservation experts last analyzed the condition of the painting, the Louvre said. The artwork undergoes evaluation once a year or every two years.

The Louvre said the condition of the Mona Lisa was causing "some worry" and that a new study has been launched, but one that will allow the painting to remain in the public eye.

Still on display

"These analyses will take place in such a way as to allow the work to remain on public display," the Louvre said in a statement.

The study, to be conducted by the Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France, is to better determine what materials the painting is made of and evaluate its vulnerability to climate changes.

The most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa is seen by nearly every one of the millions of visitors who set foot in the Louvre, according to spokeswoman Veronique Petitjean.

"We have 6 million visitors," said Veronique Petitjean. "Everybody sees it."

Experts believe the Mona Lisa, also known in Italian as La Gioconda, was painted over a long period beginning about 1505. The painting is 77 by 53 centimeters (30 by 21 inches) and sits in an air-conditioned glass case behind a waist-high barrier to keep the many craning viewers at a distance.

The admiration that the painting has inspired throughout the ages is attributed to a number of factors: fascination with da Vinci's brilliance, genius and persona; the artwork's stunning realism and technique; the mystery of the Mona Lisa's true identity; and the twists and turns in its history.

Painting stolen

In 1911, an Italian painter stole the painting from the Louvre to get it back into Italian hands. After a lengthy police inquiry, which involved an endlessly long list of suspects that included French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the painting surfaced in Italy two years after it disappeared.

The theft was splashed across newspaper front pages around the world, helping to raise the artwork's fame to an even higher level.

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