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.
Beatrice von Dovsky
Beatrice von Dovsky (14 November 1866, Vienna – 18 July 1923, Vienna) was an Austrian poet, writer, and actress. She is best known for writing the libretto for Max von Schillings's opera "Mona Lisa" which she presented to the composer in the spring of 1913. The subject was very topical at the time, because the painting by Leonardo da Vinci had been stolen from the Louvre in 1911, and rediscovered in Florence in 1913. The opera premiered successfully at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in September 1915, and, while not part of the standard opera repertory, has been commercially recorded three times and revived numerous times by major opera houses throughout the 20th century.
Dovsky's other works include poems, short stories and works for children. Her fairy tales are among her more well known works, including "Der Wiener Fratz", "Die Gnä' Frau", and "Zwölf Märchen aus der Ostmark" among others. She was also active as a stage actress in Vienna. She died in 1923 at the age of 57 and is buried in the Hietzinger Cemetery.