Mona Lisa replicas and reinterpretations
At the start of the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned by Florentine nobleman Francesco del Giocondo to paint a portrait of his wife, Lisa.
The painting is believed to have been undertaken between 1503 and 1506.
Leonardo's portrait of "Mona Lisa" ("Mona" or "Monna" being the Italian honorific for "Madame") has been on display as part of the permanent collection at Paris' Louvre museum since 1797. It is also known as "La Joconde" in French and "La Gioconda" in Italian, and has been known by other names in the past. There is a new study setting the beginning of the Mona Lisa to an earlier date that thought before, pre-1478, contrary to Vasari's narrative.
Replicas of "Mona Lisa" date back to the 16th century,
including sculptures and etchings inspired by the painting.
But even by the start of the 20th century, historian Donald Sassoon has stated, "Mona Lisa" was still "just a well-respected painting by a famous old master, hanging in one of the great museums of the world."
The image had yet to gain iconic status, and, Sassoon adds, was "not even the most valued painting in the Louvre."
The painting's theft on August 11, 1911, and the subsequent media frenzy surrounding the investigation and its recovery are contributing factors which ignited public interest and catapulted "Mona Lisa" to its current standing.
Mona Lisa replicas and reinterpretations
Among the most common motifs for satirization, "Mona Lisa"'s face is embellished upon; adding a red Santa cap for Christmas, or, as Duchamp had done, simply adding a mustache.
Replacing "Mona Lisa"'s face or head altogether is another common motif; substituting the head of an animated character such as Betty Boop, for example.
British artist Caroline Shotton in 2007 produced a series of paintings replicating classical works of art as "cows", which she would go on to title her "Great "Moo"-sters" series.
The inspiration for the series, she says, came to her while watching a documentary about "Mona Lisa".
Having settled upon the cow motif, she then formulated puns befitting her chosen subjects; whereby "Mona Lisa" became "Moo"-na Lisa.