Why does france have the mona lisa and not italy?
The history of the sale to the French buyer. This portrait was doubtless painted in Florence between 1503 and 1506. It is thought to be of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo - hence the alternative title, La Gioconda. However, Leonardo seems to have taken the completed portrait to France rather than giving it to the person who commissioned it. It was eventually returned to Italy by Leonardo's student and heir Salai. It is not known how the painting came to be in François I's collection. But countries have tried to get back pieces acquired through Colonial rule such as Egypt and Greek statues. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2...
Why is the Mona Lisa in France and not in Italy?
Quite simply, Leonardo moved to France in 1516 at the invitation of the French king. The King then bought the painting and after the revolution it was hung in the Louvre (apart from a time when it was in Napoleon's bedroom and then later when it was stolen and went missing for 2 years).
Why was the Mona Lisa stolen 1911?
The theft of the Mona Lisa is one of the great little-known episodes in the storied life of this famous painting. And it is really one of he things that helped turn the Mona Lisa into the famous icon we know today. Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian immigrant living in Paris, stole the Mona Lisa on August 21, 1911 because he thought that if he returned it to Italy he'd receive a reward that would set him and his family up for life. You see, Peruggia had worked at the Louvre in 1909-1911 helping to put many masterpieces under glass. He came to believe that all Italian art in the Louvre had been stolen from his native country when Napoleon conquered it. Peruggia was partially right. Napoleon did steal art from the nations he defeated - but the Mona Lisa didn't end up in France because it had been stolen. Leonardo da Vinci brought the painting to there when he went to live and work at the court of the French King Francis I. The King later acquired the painting either from Leonardo or from one of his heirs. In December 1913, after keeping the Mona Lisa in his room in Paris for nearly 26 months, Peruggia brought the masterpiece to an art dealer in Florence, Italy. But instead of the reward he was expecting, Peruggia was thrown in jail. The court psychiatrist deemed Peruggia was "mentally deficient" and only partly responsible for his actions so the judges at his trial in Florence gave him a lenient sentence of one year and 15 days, of which he ended up serving just 7 months. Peruggia's dream of providing a fortune for his family back home in Dumenza, Italy turned out to be just a far-fetched fantasy. He would remain an immigrant workman the rest of his life, going back to France after World War I (under an assumed name so the French authorities wouldn't know he was there). He died of a heart attack on his birthday, October 8, 1925 at the age of 44.
Why do they call it the "Mona Lisa"?
The picture is known as Mona Lisa (In Italian, ma donna means my lady.This became madonna, and its contraction mona.) Mona Lisa is named for Lisa del Giocondo, a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany and the wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. All over the world the painting is known as Mona Lisa, La Gioconda and La Joconde (France and French Speaking countries). I suppose that, t'is a pronunciation problem. In English is easier to pronounce Mona Lisa than Gioconda (the end of the word "onda" is unknown in the English language. . That's why in France is known as La Joconde. The french pronunciation would be La Giocondá (stressed on the last syllable) unknown in the French language too. In the rest of countries Neo-latin speaking language (Italy, Spain, Latin America) the name is indistinguishable: Mona Lisa or La Gioconda. The world's "widespread" name for the painting is Mona Lisa (not except in America as you say)