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by LynfromNM on January 5th, 2009
Yes, it's on a poplar panel. Da Vinci began his work on the portrait in 1503.
by Anonymous on January 5th, 2009
He ran out of canvas, but had inspiration that needed to come forth immediately, is the unofficial story. :) JK
Funny thing is, the people I know who have seen the actual painting of the Mona Lisa have said there's far more nicer paintings to see at the Louvre.
by Carpediem COAT ab imo pectore on January 5th, 2009
In the process of photographing and scanning the images, Pascal Cotte discovered that the "Mona Lisa's" eyebrows and eyelashes were originally painted on the piece. They disappeared either because of a botched attempt to clean the painting or because the paint's oil and pigment faded over time.
Through the photographs, Pascal Cotte also spotted drawings underneath the paint that show a change in the position of her fingers.
The Mona Lisa was incorrectly identified as having been painted on canvas. It is in fact painted on wood.
Sorry it is a long answer but I believe the information is very interesting.
by 1858 Remington 1-21-13 on January 5th, 2009
Yup, I think it was a slab of siding off the old barn. :-)
by andyschoneberg on January 19th, 2010
The Mona Lisa is painted on a one-piece poplar panel measuring about 21"Wx31"Hx1/2"D. The panel was likely bought from a local carpentry shop that supplied the panels for painters They were usually pre-framed. It was common practice at that time in the Italian renaissance for painters to use wood panels for their paintings, and even though Leonardo preferred to paint on walnut, the Mona Lisa is painted on Italian poplar.
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Comments
Phunny that it became so poplar.
by HasntBeen on January 5th, 2009
chortle!
by LynfromNM on January 5th, 2009
Thanks, LynfromNM. I had heard it was not too long ago. I was surprised.
by Marguerite on January 5th, 2009
It does seem strange. I don't know how common that may have been at the time.
by LynfromNM on January 5th, 2009