# How Much Is \[I\]The Mona Lisa\[/I\] Worth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161 "2003-06-02T17:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/1 "2003-06-02T17:38:11Z")
Let’s say that for whatever reason the Louvre decides to put Da Vinci’s _The Mona Lisa_ up for auction? What kind of price do you think the painting would fetch and why? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/2 "2003-06-02T17:52:40Z")
Well, one would have to research comparable paintings and/or other historically signficant works that have been auctioned. Fundamentally it is priceless - a price of $1 billion or more would not be surprising, even though I find it doubtful that it would ever get that far…Even the manuscript of Beethoven’s 9th went for a surprisingly low sum - less than $10million and it is one of the most important / beautiful pieces of music ever written. Bottom line? I have no clue. On one hand you have the fact that it is the most famous painting of all time (or at least one of them) and the most famous piece by one of the most admired artists of all time. On the other hand, it is not “the People’s Art” like Impressionism is - it is more distant and formal. I am sure different ways could be determined to triangulate on its value, but ultimately I am going to stick with: _It’s priceless_ ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/3 "2003-06-02T18:43:59Z")
From _The Guinness Book of Records_: > [@](#): > > The “Mona Lisa” (_La Gioconda_) by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in the Louvre, Paris, France, was assessed for insurance purposes at $100 million for its move to Washington, D.C. and New York City for exhibition from 14 Dec 1962 to 12 Mar 1963. However, insurance was not purchased because the cost of the closest security precautions was less than that of the premiums. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/4 "2003-06-02T18:50:43Z")
I’ll start the bidding at $20. (Oh, wait - this isn’t Ebay. Sorry.) ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/5 "2003-06-02T19:57:21Z")
I’m just dropping by to point out that the comparison with the original score of Beethoven’s Ninth symphony doesn’t hold up completely. You can enjoy a perfect performance of the Ninth without possessing the original score. OTHO if you want to really enjoy a painting, you want to see the original. A better comparison might be that Leonardo da Vinci notebook that Bill Gates bought ($31.8 million). But you’re right, the Mona Lisa is in a class by itself. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/6 "2003-06-03T12:54:28Z")
It’s very rare for Old Masters to come up at auction, so it’s hard to place any value on it, since it would depend on market conditions, the state of the economy, who was bidding, what other major paintings were for sale at the main time, etc. If a single [Leonardo da Vinci drawing](http://www.christies.com/departments/overview.asp?DID=69) can sell for 8,143,750 UK pounds (around $12m), it’s hard to imagine how high the bidding for a painting would go. Last year a major oil painting by[Rubens](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/07/15/barube15.xml) sold for 50 million UK pounds (around $80m). Leonardo is a better artist, older, more famous, and I believe produced significantly fewer paintings. So $100m seems severe underinsurance. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/7 "2003-06-03T13:01:36Z")
Eh, I ouldn’t give you $5 for it. Have you ever been to the Louvre to see it? It’s much smaller than you imagine, stuck behind bulletproof glass and so crusted over with centuries of dirt that it’s virtually impossible to make out any detail, even if you could get through the crowds around it. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/8 "2003-06-03T13:25:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by refusal \* > \*\*So $100m seems severe underinsurance. \*\* That was for the period 14 Dec 1962 to 12 Mar 1963, so you’d have to allow for inflation in the art market since then. Although the market has been depressed since the big Van Gogh sales of the 1980s the other figures you quote are very interesting. It’s debatable whether Leonardo was a _better_ artist than Rubens, but he’s certainly a more charismatic and collectable figure in art history. **gobear** : there’s no accounting for taste, of course, but I’m sure you know that paintings can be cleaned and size is hardly the most significant factor when you are splashing out hundreds of millions on a work of art. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/9 "2003-06-03T14:23:47Z")
Is there a Trademark on the Mona Lisa or would that be considered public domain? If the painting itself came with the exclusive international rights to the image, then the pot would be a lot sweeter. The Mona Lisa is on a LOT of T-shirts! As for gobear’s criticism, I am forced to agree. When I saw it, I was underwhelmed. I just don’t understand how THAT became the most famous painting ever (with the possible exception of Dogs Playing Poker, of course!) At the Louvre, when viewing Mona, turn around to see a fantastic painting by Louis David called the [Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine](http://www.mezzo-mondo.com/arts/mm/france19/david/DJL007_L.jpg). Epic is the only word to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/10 "2003-06-03T14:53:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*Eh, I ouldn’t give you $5 for it. Have you ever been to the Louvre to see it? It’s much smaller than you imagine, stuck behind bulletproof glass and so crusted over with centuries of dirt that it’s virtually impossible to make out any detail, even if you could get through the crowds around it. \*\* Well, if you _do_ buy it, you can get rid of the bulletproof glass and the crowd, and I imagine the dirt is removable as well. It’s easily worth $5. Maybe even $10. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/11 "2003-06-03T14:58:02Z")
**gobear** , if you bought the Mona Lisa, you could see it in your own house without the bullet-proof glass and all the crowds. But hey, if you only bid 5, and **Jerh** 20, I'm willing to fork at least 25. So our current best estimate is $ 25 😉 Any other takers? **watsonwil** , I believe there was a thread several months ago about taking pictures in musea, in which several posts were devoted to the way the museum can or cannot exploit ‘copyright’. I don’t recall the details, but basically while the image itself is long since in the public domain, under certain conditions the owner can enforce copyright on any pictures he takes, and if he takes precautions to prohibit other people from taking pictures, in effect he can earn money from licensing these pictures. Since I’m writing this by memory, I may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/12 "2003-06-03T14:59:06Z")
Grrr, **Priceguy** is in first with the wiseguy remark. At least I’ve still outbid everyone. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/13 "2003-06-03T15:02:26Z")
Ah, I didn’t notice the $100m figure was from 1963. That makes more sense. Sorry. If you wanted to buy the Mona Lisa, then your best bet would be to prove the various claims that the famous smile was largely the work of 19th century restorers and owes little to what Leonardo intended (sorry, no cites, as my work internet seems to stop me accessing any websites except SDMB). A few questions over attribution should knock the price down a bit, although **JerH** ’s $20 might still be a little short. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/14 "2003-06-03T15:37:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by watsonwil \* > **As for gobear’s criticism, I am forced to agree. When I saw it, I was underwhelmed. I just don’t understand how THAT became the most famous painting ever (with the possible exception of Dogs Playing Poker, of course!)** This book review from _The Guardian_ offers an excellent history of Mona Lisa’s “mystique”: > **[The myth of the Mona Lisa](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/mar/28/londonreviewofbooks)** > > Charles Nicholl considers the enduring appeal of the world's most famous portrait Nineteenth-century writers did a lot to propagate the romantic interpretations of the painting which remain with us today. Writers like Gautier and Walter Pater made a big deal about “the smile,” which is really in many other Leonardo paintings–the Mona Lisa is hardly his only work to show that half-smile. [Walter Pater](http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20of%20art/patertext.htm) wrote some memorable lines about her: > [@](#): > > She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave… It’s hard to say _why_ they chose the Mona Lisa as the subject for such lines–they seem a little over-the-top–but it’s clear that the painting has become so much of a cultural myth that it’s impossible to put a price tag on it. Though you could do like Duchamp and put a _mustache_ on it. (OK, he painted it on a postcard of it. And retitled it “L.H.O.O.Q.”) She is probably overrated, anyway. The Louvre has other Leonardo paintings, _The Virgin and Child with St. Anne_ and _The Virgin of the Rocks_, in a nearby gallery. And to view them, you almost never have to fight with a crowd of camera-wielding tourists. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-i-the-mona-lisa-i-worth/179161/15 "2003-06-03T16:03:08Z")
If they put it up right now, I think no one would bid on it. No one would want to disrespect such a work of art by putting a price on it.