Why Does it Always Have to be The Mona Lisa?

Like that celebrity that you can’t seem to stop hearing about, the Mona Lisa always manages to find its way to the headlines.

The Louvre Museum has 35,000 works of art on display,
And an additional half a million locked in storage…

So why is it that on Sunday when the climate activist chose to smear cake over a painting to make the most noise, he chose Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa?

The Mona Lisa today is one of the most recognized and known artworks in the world, millions of tourists visit the museum every year to stand at the back of a crowded room to see the piece through their phone screens.

Critiques attribute its value to the technique and color used through the painting, one that took around 10 years to finish, or as some believe, never truly finished. Coupled with the ambiguity behind the identity of the woman featured, or her eyes that follow you everywhere you go. However, there was a time in history when all of this was still true, yet the Mona Lisa was exhibited in The Louvre on an insignificant wall, placed between two paintings and hung without any protection.

While the painting always had value, it is said that Da Vinci was never able to part with it even though it was originally a commissioned piece, and following his death…