The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1911-08-23

vengeance against tne SuH1inlS'tdloi'
NJ BcnHdite says he cannot believe
that the picture has been stolen.
"Wha, thief dare sell the picture and
what collector dare purchase it, he asks.
NO. i, is rpvcngeful joke of some one.
Artists are of the opinion that LA
Jocontln" was stolen by some maniac
fascinated hv the subtle expression Of
the wonderful face Project Lepne hopes
that the picture will turn up.
The picture was painted on a thick
wood panel. which had been veneered.
and it was quite heavy This would make
IL extremely difficult to- remove. but it
is said that photographers are allowed
to enter on Mondays with such large
cameras that it would not have been
difficult 10 secret it in one Of these.
In July, 1910, ii was reported on the
authority of the Cri dc Paris that the
Mona Lisa" had hecn stolen from its
frame to be sold To- an American million
aire and n copy substituted. American
art dealers were not incrcdulous and
spoke Of similar thefts from the Louvre
In the past The report was Immediately
followed bv an official denial
The Mona Lisa" was the richest treas
ings in Europe dealers placed ii second
only in value to the Sistne Madonna.
At one time il was rumored that an offer
Of 81. .OO0. 900, made for ii Ivy the British
Government had been refused by France.
Fears for the safety Of such picture
were always rife. and in 1907. when a
young woman fanatic had slashed
picture by Ingres in the Louvre. the
authorities put the Mona Lisa" behind
glass. There were instant protests from
art lovers the world over and tho glass
was removed
The greater number Of the compare
lively few finished paintings left by Leo
nardo da Vinci have been lost OF his
masterpieces The Last Supper" on a
wall of the refectory in the Monastery of
Santa Maria dele Gra2ie. Milan. moth
ing remains hut a few crumbling patches
of color. This left the Mona Lisa" the
finest surviving example of one Of the
great masters of the High Renaissance.
and it was perhaps more famous than
any other portrait in the world
The subject of the portrait was Madonna
Lisa del Giocondo. wife of the Florentine
Francesca del Giocondo Leonardo is
eaid to have worked on it during four
wears from 1902 to l5oa and to have pro-
nounced it uncompleted when he stopped.
In order to bring upon the face Of the
sitter that strange smile for which he
was striving he had recourse to musicians.
who by playing certain music in the lady =
presence could evoke the desired eXpres-
sion He Wa compelled to work from the
briefest sittings in order tina, the effect OF
the music might not wear of with repc-
tition.
Dr. Arthur Mailer describes the paint =
ing thus:
"Tha. which strikes lis i the mobility
in the apparently immovable figure
Mona Lisa il seated in chair. on the left
arm of which she leans and lightly rests
an arm Her long narrow eyes seem on
the point Of dangerously closing. tho
corners of tho mouth are u little raised
and there is mysterious and ndesCrib-
able -ml!a upon the lips Leonardo Wa
tho Grst artist able in painting to render
the texture and supplensss of the skin
\ stone tclustrade separate the figure
from the landscape and serves TO incline
II toward tho spectator, at the same time
leaving i connected with the background
Many and deep are the distances which
We see in those blue mountains, and 1t
is a landscape Of fantastic dreamland far
beyond our reach. for the little bridge is
to indicate distance. and seems to lead &c
other worlds"
Il was her smile for which Mona Lisa
was famous. the smile which has heG
the poets and artists iol wears and
which they have described in a thousanc
WAYS 4 celebrated passage of Walter
Pa'ar's -l,enajssGnce" gave his lnt"rpre
tation. a rhapsody in perfect pros"
Critics equal to Pater for dsCernmenr
but not FOR literary style have acknowl
edged their failure to find in the portrait
the mysteries of which he wrote SO mag
callv
George Vasari, describing the Mona
Lisa forty years after i, WAS painted
speaks Of he vivid red o. the lips and ,h'
carnation hue upon the checks. These
have vanished and "A gray groundwork
men,s has given a curious palIor To tn"