# How many hours to paint the Mona Lisa?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hours-to-paint-the-mona-lisa/791056>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 12, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hours-to-paint-the-mona-lisa/791056 "2017-07-12T01:25:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hours-to-paint-the-mona-lisa/791056/21 "2017-08-25T17:06:58Z")

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That’s even better than the original.

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**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hours-to-paint-the-mona-lisa/791056/22 "2017-08-25T17:14:41Z")

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> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> The question is a little like asking how long it takes to make an album. The Beatles did their first album in a day. By the end, they took months to make an album.
> 
> Sitting for an oil portrait was generally a long, tedious affair. That’s why Leonardo had to use so many tricks to keep his model compliant. And one of the reasons Mona Lisa’s smile is so compelling. Almost no portraits ever depicted smiles. No human could hold a smile for that long. The few examples of smiles look [stilted and unflattering](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Antonello_da_Messina_080.jpg), the opposite of Leonardo’s effect.
> 
> Subjects always complained about the length of time sitting took. IIRC, Washington railed against Gilbert Stuart for the need to neglect his work while posing. But he kept sitting. It was a necessary evil.

They should’ve hired [Denny Dent](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35P7GklUx_E). You could smile that long assuming you could sit still depending on the music.

Note: He is obviously not drawing from life though.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hours-to-paint-the-mona-lisa/791056/23 "2017-08-25T17:41:23Z")

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Let’s move this to Café Society.

Colibri  
General Questions Moderator

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