The Mona Lisa isn’t just Leonardo da Vinci’s most celebrated masterpiece—it’s arguably the world’s most recognizable painting. As a cultural icon she’s been splashed across royal bathrooms, lifted in daring heists, and even had a protestor lob a cake at her. Today she rests behind bullet‑ and bomb‑proof glass, a testament to her priceless status.
10 Alternative Versions: A Quick Look
10 L.H.O.O.Q.
Marcel Duchamp turned the art world on its head in the early 1900s with his infamous “readymades,” everyday objects re‑presented as high art. His most notorious stunt was the urinal titled “Fountain.”
For his cheeky take on the Mona Lisa, Duchamp grabbed a postcard of the famous portrait, doodled a pointed moustache and a tiny goatee, and stamped the letters L.H.O.O.Q. underneath. When spoken in French, those letters sound like “Ella a chaud au cul,” a vulgar phrase meaning “She has a hot ass.”
Duchamp’s message was clear: no matter how revered a work seems, it remains an object that can be toyed with.
9 Mona A’la Mace
Lennie Mace, hailed as the “da Vinci of doodlers,” wields ordinary ball‑point pens to create intricate illustrations he dubs “PENtings.” His most celebrated piece is Mona a’la Mace, a ball‑point rendition of the Mona Lisa.
Commissioned by Pilot pens, Mace swapped Leonardo’s muted tones for vivid purples, reproducing the soft contours of the original solely with ball‑point strokes. The finished work once graced Pilot’s headquarters, though its current location remains a mystery.
Given the hefty commission, it’s unlikely the piece vanished like a stray sketch; it probably still resides in a private collection.
8 Mona Lisa Bazooka
Banksy, the globe’s most notorious street artist, is known for fleeting graffiti that can fetch millions. In 2007, he sprayed a twist on the Mona Lisa in Soho, London, portraying her clutching a bazooka.
The juxtaposition of the serene smile with a lethal weapon turns the portrait’s mystery into a mischievous grin, as if she’s about to unleash chaos. Reactions were mixed; one onlooker snarked, “Only boys with small d**ks paint pictures of big guns.”
7 Isleworth Mona Lisa
Leonardo’s obsessive perfectionism meant he often revisited works for years, sometimes never finishing them. While scholars agree the Louvre’s Mona Lisa spanned 1503‑1517, speculation persists that Leonardo painted a second version.
A canvas copy surfaced in Italy in the 1780s, later arriving in Britain. In 1913 it was publicly displayed, and some claimed it pre‑dated the Louvre’s piece, even suggesting the Louvre version was merely a replica.
However, technical analysis reveals inconsistencies: Leonardo favored wooden panels, whereas the Isleworth version rests on canvas, casting doubt on its attribution.
6 Prado Mona Lisa
The Prado Museum in Madrid houses a lesser‑known Mona Lisa copy. After a 2012 restoration stripped centuries of varnish and overpainting, experts discovered a work dating between 1507‑1516, contemporaneous with Leonardo’s original.
The cleaned painting shows sharper background details and appears better preserved than its Louvre counterpart. Its perspective is slightly offset, hinting it may have been painted by an apprentice working alongside Leonardo, though the exact hand remains unidentified.
5 Monna Vanna
Salai, Leonardo’s close assistant and rumored lover, learned the craft under his master but never matched his brilliance. Some theories propose Salai modeled for the Mona Lisa or even inherited the Louvre masterpiece after Leonardo’s death.
Salai is also credited with a version titled Monna Vanna, depicting the same pose but with exposed breasts. While the sketch appears in Leonardo’s own drawings, it may be a playful homage to Salai or a sly inside joke.
4 Mona Lisa Smoking a Pipe
During the 1882 “Arts Incohérents” exhibition in Paris, a gathering of deliberately untalented artists, Eugène Bataille—known as Sapeck—presented a bizarre Mona Lisa smoking a pipe, exhaling rings of smoke.
Sapeck’s eccentric performance art, including painting his own head blue, made his rendition a tongue‑in‑cheek commentary on the absurdity of high art.
3 Mona Lisa
Fernando Botero’s unmistakable style inflates his subjects into voluptuous forms. His Mona Lisa swaps Leonardo’s delicate figure for a plump, rounded silhouette, yet retains the enigmatic smile.
Botero produced several variants, including “Mona Lisa, Age Twelve,” portraying a pale, green‑tinged youngster, demonstrating his playful reinterpretation of the iconic pose.
2 Monna Lisa (Be Back in 5 Minutes)
Sophie Matisse, great‑granddaughter of Henri Matisse, created the “Be Back in 5 Minutes” series, removing human figures from famous artworks to reveal hidden scenery. Her Mona Lisa version clears the sitter, exposing Leonardo’s imagined landscape of mountains, paths, and bridges.
This approach invites viewers to appreciate the background that usually hides behind the iconic smile.
1 Self Portrait Mona Lisa by Dali
Salvador Dalí, the surrealist master known for melting clocks, infused his own flamboyant moustache into a self‑portrait that merges with the Mona Lisa. He painted himself swivel‑eyed, clutching a pile of coins, perhaps mocking the astronomical sums paid for classic works.
While the original Mona Lisa’s value is incalculable, it was appraised at $100 million in 1962—roughly a billion today—yet the art market’s volatility means any future auction would likely shatter that figure.