How the Mona Lisa became so overrated

It's not just the smile. There are a few real reasons Mona is so famous. Vox's Phil Edwards looked into it...

[valsteppe]

Fun fact: after the theft of the Mona Lisa, a popular joke in France went, "I'm going o the Louvre. Can I pick up something for you?"

[cmeves]

Mona LIsa is the Kim Kardashian of the art world. Famous because she's famous.

[nine-virw]

With the Mona Lisa, it was all about techniques than the picture itself.
— The milky effect, soft edges etc. are signature to Da Vinci's style of painting that not many can recreate to this day.
— Look at the pose. It's front facing and not stiff, unlike most of the Renaissance portraits at the time.
— BACKGROUND. How many Renaissance portraits had such a vivid background? None. Da Vinci experimented with landscapes and perspective in color (the slowly vanishing colors) and that was breathtaking for a portrait commission of the time. ✔️points for creativity.
— The painting also had illusions (with eye movements and also the smile which was soft to not show the true expression).
Obviously, the stealing might add to the hype but the Mona Lisa was a revolutionary painting for Renaissance times.

[Thoran]

I saw the painting IRL and was disappointed. Very small, rather boring compared to the rest.

[Kabitu]

That blank face at the end was so unsettling for some reason.

[VulpeculaJoy]

So, is the Mona Lisa the first art meme?

[DerpsGW]

When I saw it at the Louvre, I thought it was a great painting...but really it was more about the awe of being near the most famous painting in the world.

[sheryl]

i used to believe as a kid that the reason why Mona Lisa is popular is because she had no eyebrow 👁👄👁

[qspnaserdf]

I remember, when I was little, I was so scared of the Mona Lisa. Now when I look back at that, I feel so stupid.

[TomHasVideo]

*begin video*
"It was stolen"
*end video*

[SyedMBaqir-wrxj]

The Mona Lisa is still, nevertheless, a thousand times better than bananas literally hung at art galleries these days.

[youdontneedtoreadthis]

That's a cool story but i'd replace the word overrated with overhyped. Media coverage indeed made the painting more famous than it needed to be. But it's a bloody damn great painting. And i know so not because i've read critics' explanations of light and shadow this and composition that but because i have my own eyes. This is undeniably a magnetic image. It simply has the exact recipe for drawing the spectator in and that recipe was masterfully executed. I am absolutely certain that anyone who gives a crap about art, visuals, or simply things that look good will agree that this painting is something else, even among leonardo's fantastic array of works.
But it's definitely overhyped with people claiming there are sectet messages in there, often the painting is even said to be connected to the illuminati and whatnot. Basically there have been a ton of conspiracies around mona lisa for centuries which perpetuated the hype more and more.
But there's no doubt the painting itself deserves all the praise it has received.

[mBUSHattack]

It's just another example of how meaning that we take as absolute because it's been the same our entire lives usually has mundane and arbitrary origins, typically not befitting the pedestal we've placed the thoughts on.

[tbplayerz]

Did you know that x-ray technology has revealed there are 3 other versions of the Mona Lisa painted underneath.

[toad]

I love Vox's informative and intriguing videos. Buzzfeed is just garbage

[PikaPetey]

shows you that art is subjective and just a popular game. JUST LIKE YOUTUBE CHANNELS.

[steph.li]

The fact that y’all are discrediting the genius of Da Vinci just bc his painting is famous is so absurd

[joshuamajors]

So the Mona Lisa can be considered overrated but an entirely white canvas isn't? Okay then

[WatchItMelt]

I can't stop daydreaming of the Mona Lisa slowly dissolving in a bathtub full of paint thinner.

[TheFourthWinchester]

Atleast Mona Lisa is actual art. Overrated are those which they call 'modern art' and herald blank papers as *masterpieces*.