TED岩石
Why is the Mona Lisa so famous?
Noah Charney
As dawn broke over Paris on August 21st, 1911,Vincenzo Peruggia hoisted a painting off the wall and slipped down the back stairs of the Louvre.He was close to freedom, the exit just before him when he encountered a two-pronged problem:the door was locked and footsteps were approaching.Tucked under Peruggia’s arm was Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.”It's arguably the world's most famous painting today.But how did it achieve its status?
秦岚资料
Leonardo is thought to have started the portrait in 1503 at the request of a Florentine businessman who wanted a portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini. Leonardo continued working on the painting for more than 10 years, but it was unfinished by the time he died.
Over his lifetime, Leonardo conducted groundbreaking studies on human optics,which led him to pioneer certain artistic techniques.Some can be seen in the “Mona Lisa.”Using “atmospheric perspective,” he made images at greater distances hazier,producing the illusion of profound depth.And
熊乃瑾整容with “sfumato,” he created subtle gradations between colors that softened the edges of the forms he depicted.
All of this is striking,but is it enough to make the “Mona Lisa” the world’s most famous painting?Many scholars consider it an outstanding Renaissance portrait—but one among plenty.And history is full of great paintings.Indeed, the “Mona Lisa’s” rise to worldwide fame depended largely on factors beyond the canvas.
King François the First of France purchased the painting and began displaying it after Leonardo’s death.Then, in 1550, Italian scholar Giorgio Vasari published    a popular biography of Italian Renaissance artists,Leonardo included.The book was translated and distributed widely,and it contained a gushing description of the “Mona Lisa”as a hypnotic imitation of life.
Over the years, the “Mona Lisa” became one of the most enviable pieces in the French Royal Collection.It hung in Napoleon’s bedroom and eventually went on public display in the Louvre Museum.There, visitors flocked to see the once-private treasures of the deposed aristocracy.
During the 1800s, a series of European scholars further hyped the “Mona Lisa” up,fixating to a conspicuous degree on the subject's allure.In 1854, Alfred Dumesnil said that Mona Lisa’s smile imp
arted a “treacherous attraction.”A year later, Théophile Gautier wrote of her “mocking lips”and “gaze promising unknown pleasures.”And in 1869,
Walter Pater described Mona Lisa as the embodiment of timeless feminine beauty.
By the 20th century, the portrait was an iconic piece in one of the world’s most famous museums.But the “Mona Lisa” wasn’t yet a household name.It was Peruggia’s 1911 heist that helped it skyrocket to unprecedented fame.
Having been contracted to make protective cases for the Louvre,it wasn’t totally inconceivable for Peruggia to be locked inside the museum.And, lucky for him, when a workman encountered him in the stairwell,he simply helped Peruggia open the door and let him walk out into the morning.The theft made international headlines.People gathered to see the blank space where the “Mona Lisa” once hung.The police interviewed Peruggia because he had worked at the Louvre,but they never considered him a suspect.Meanwhile, they interrogated Pablo Picasso because of his connection to a previous Louvre theft, but eventually let him go.
For two years, Peruggia kept the painting in a false-bottom suitcase,then smuggled the “Mona Lisa” to Italy and arranged to sell it to a Florentine art dealer.Peruggia saw himself as an Italian patriot retu秤组词
rning an old master’s work.But instead of being celebrated as such, he was immediately arrested.With the mystery solved, the “Mona Lisa” went
back on display to large crowds,and newspapers took the story for a victory lap.
In the following decades, conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp mocked it;Nazi art thieves pursued it; Nat King Cole sang about it;and museumgoers wielding stones, paint, acid, and teacups attacked it.
More than 500 years after its creation— eyebrows and eyelashes long since faded—
the “Mona Lisa” is protected by a bulletproof, earthquake-safe case. Now, it stands perhaps less as an exemplary Renaissance portrait and more as a testament to how we create and maintain celebrity.
hoist v. 吊起，提升
孙涛
Hoist the flag to the top of the pole.
把旗升到旗杆顶端。
Louvre n. （法）罗浮宫（等于louver）
pronged adj. 尖端分叉的；分为不同方向的
Why is there a two-pronged approach?
为什么要采取两种方法？
Multi-pronged, invite the audience!
多管齐下，广邀观众！
tuck v. 把…塞进狭窄的空间；把…藏入；收藏
The letter had been tucked under a pile of papers.
那封信压在了一摞文件下面。
arguably adv. 可论证地，按理
Venus was arguably a cozier habitat for life than earth.
可以说金星是比地球更舒适的生命栖息地。
portrait n. （尤指只刻画脸、头和肩部的）肖像，照片，雕像
We hung her portrait above the fireplace.
我们把她的画像挂在壁炉上方。
groundbreaking adj. 开创性的
optics n. [光] 光学
hazier adj.朦胧的；模糊的；有薄雾的（hazy 的变形）
illusion n. 错觉，幻觉；幻想，错误的观念
Mirrors in a room often give an illusion of space.
房间里的镜子常给人一种空间增大的错觉。
profound adj. （影响）深刻的，极大的；（感情）强烈的，深切的
This remark has profound implications.
这句话含义深刻。
subtle adj. 不易察觉的，微妙的泡沫之夏的演员
gradation n. （彩、颜、次序、音调等的）渐变
But TV images require subtle gradations of light and shade.
但是电视影像需要有细微的光影变化
depict v. 描述，描绘
The artist had depicted her lying on a bed. 画家画了她躺在床上的画像。