667. The Mystery of the Mona Lisa
Episode of The Rest Is History · May 6, 2026 · 1 h 10 min
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the Mona Lisa's origins, the debate over its sitter, and how it became the world's most famous painting.
Summary
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examined the history of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, opening with Walter Pater's 1869 description of the painting. Holland described its pose, landscape and sfumato technique, citing Martin Kemp and Hegel, and argued that the painting's elusive quality made it hard to reproduce until photography improved in the 1880s. He also discussed its role in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.
The hosts then outlined Leonardo's career, his return to Florence in 1500, and Giorgio Vasari's account identifying the sitter as Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. Holland surveyed alternative identifications, including Pacifica Brandano, Isabella d'Este, Leonardo's mother (Freud), Salaì, and Leonardo himself; both hosts compared these theories to Shakespeare authorship doubts. Holland presented the 2005 discovery by Armin Schlechter of Agostino Vespucci's 1503 marginal note, which he said confirmed Vasari's identification and dated the start of the painting to 1503.
The second half followed the painting's reputation: its purchase by Francis I, two centuries of relative obscurity, its move to the Louvre after the French Revolution, its elevation by Romantic ideas of genius and the femme fatale, and the 1911 theft by Vincenzo Peruggia, which Holland argued secured its global fame. They discussed Duchamp's L.H.O.O.Q., Warhol, its 1963 and 1974 tours, and Macron's plan for a dedicated gallery by 2031. Holland said he had become a fan, while Sandbrook maintained that the story was fascinating but the painting itself uninteresting.
Chapters
- 1:33
Walter Pater and the world's most famous painting
Sandbrook reads Pater's famous passage and Holland explains why the Mona Lisa's fame grew only once photography could reproduce it.
- 6:53
Describing the painting and sfumato
Holland describes the sitter, landscape and smoky technique that make her expression hard to read.
- 11:25
Mystery, Dan Brown and basic questions
The hosts discuss the painting's aura of hidden codes, The Da Vinci Code, and the open questions of sitter and date.
- 15:33
Leonardo's career up to 1500
Holland and Sandbrook recount Leonardo's background, his years with Ludovico Sforza, and his return to a turbulent Florence.
- 24:02
Vasari and Lisa Gherardini
Holland presents Vasari's identification of the sitter and the life of Lisa Gherardini and Francesco del Giocondo.
- 31:56
Alternative sitter theories
Holland surveys theories naming Pacifica Brandano, Isabella d'Este, Leonardo's mother, Salaì, Leonardo himself and Dan Brown's Amon-Isis anagram.
- 42:38
The Vespucci note
Holland describes the 2005 discovery of Agostino Vespucci's 1503 marginal note confirming the sitter and date.
- 46:14
Why Leonardo kept it and its move to France
The hosts consider why the painting was never delivered and how Francis I acquired it after Leonardo's death.
- 49:37
Eclipse and revival after the Revolution
The painting languishes at Versailles before moving to the Louvre, where it rises slowly in esteem.
- 52:54
Romanticism and the femme fatale
Holland explains how Romantic cults of genius and the fatal woman, via Pater, Gautier and Michelet, inflated its reputation.
Linked moment · 57:20Skip to 57:20 using a listen link in the info box.
57:20The 1911 theft
Holland recounts Vincenzo Peruggia's theft of the painting and its recovery in Florence, which made it a global sensation.
- 1:02:41
Parody, mass reproduction and modern tourism
The hosts cover Duchamp, Warhol, overseas tours, Louvre crowds, the planned dedicated gallery and their final verdicts.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Tom Holland
Holland explains that in the Victorian era the paintings that became famous were those easily copied, which initially held back the Mona Lisa.
“the paintings that had cut through in the Victorian period were those that were very easily copied”
- Tom Holland
Holland argues that the Mona Lisa is unquestionably the most recognizable painting in history.
“It is the most recognizable painting that has ever been in the whole of history”
- Tom Holland
Holland argues that the painting's fame incentivises art historians to advance outlandish theories because they are guaranteed press coverage.
“if you come up with a new theory about the Mona Lisa, you'll immediately get it into the newspapers”
- Tom Holland
Holland says Leonardo's fortune under Sforza was made by his engineering work rather than his painting.
“the ability to paint his mistress fondling an ermine was a kind of an advantage, but it's the engineering that really makes Leonardo's fortune”
- Tom Holland
Holland suggests Vasari's anecdote about entertainers keeping the sitter merry could have come directly from Lisa Gherardini, as Vasari lived nearby while she was alive.
“it is perfectly possible that he got that directly from La Giaconda's mouth”
Listen from 26:51 · Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
- Tom Holland
Holland judges that the marriage of Lisa Gherardini and Francesco del Giocondo, though mercenary in origin, was relatively successful.
“although the context for the marriage is a mercenary one, it seems to have been a relatively successful marriage”
- Tom Holland
Holland likens alternative sitter theories to doubts over Shakespeare's authorship.
“there is a slight quality of people not wanting to believe that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's plays”
- Dominic Sandbrook
Sandbrook argues that alternative sitter theories stem from people rejecting mundane explanations in favour of exotic ones.
“People just do not want a humdrum explanation, and they're groping desperately for something exotic”
- Tom Holland
Holland argues the Vespucci note disproves all the rival theories about who the sitter was.
“Freud is wrong. Dr. Robert Langdon is wrong. I mean, everyone who thought it wasn't the Mona Lisa is wrong”
- Tom Holland
Holland states the note shows Leonardo began the painting in 1503, fitting between his work for Cesare Borgia and the council hall commission.
“Leonardo began the painting in 1503, which makes perfect sense because, as we said, in 1502, he'd been off in Rome”
- Dominic Sandbrook
Sandbrook admits he had assumed the painting's aesthetic value was attributed to it only after it became famous.
“I'd always assumed that the aesthetic value of it was, as it were, projected onto it later”
- Tom Holland
Holland says Raphael saw the painting in progress and was strongly influenced by it.
“He comes and sees it and he's blown away by it. And it's a patently a massive influence on Raphael's painting”
- Tom Holland
Holland, citing Donald Sassoon, argues the Mona Lisa's status derived from Leonardo's Romantic-era reputation as supreme genius.
“the Mona Lisa acquired its special status because of its association with Leonardo, not the other way around”
- Tom Holland
Holland argues that because the thief Peruggia proved dull, media attention focused on the painting itself, which became feminized as 'she'.
“problem is he turns out to be really boring. You know, people had wanted a master criminal, a kind of gentleman cracksman”
- Tom HollandPrediction · due Dec 2031
Holland reports that the Mona Lisa is to be moved to a dedicated underground gallery scheduled to open in 2031.
“There will be no other work of art inside it. And that is scheduled to open in 2031”
- Tom Holland
Holland states the Mona Lisa is the most popular object in any museum, held in the world's most visited museum.
“it is the single most popular object held by any museum in the world. And the Louvre is the most visited museum”
- Tom Holland
Holland concludes that the painting supports an almost infinite range of interpretations.
“it is kind of infinite in the ways that it can be interpreted and seen”
- Dominic Sandbrook
Sandbrook maintains that despite its fascinating history, he finds the Mona Lisa an uninteresting painting.
“as a painting, I can think of hundreds of paintings I'd rather look at than the Mona Lisa”
People
In the conversation
- Tom HollandEnglish actor cast as Telemachus
- Dominic SandbrookBritish historian, author and co-host of The Rest Is History
Discussed
- Leonardo da VinciItalian Renaissance painter and polymath who painted the Mona Lisa
- Lisa GherardiniFlorentine noblewoman identified as the sitter of the Mona Lisa
- Francesco del GiocondoFlorentine silk merchant, husband of Lisa Gherardini
- Walter PaterVictorian English art critic whose 1869 passage shaped perceptions of the Mona Lisa
- Giorgio VasariRenaissance artist and biographer, author of Lives of the Artists
- Martin KempBritish art historian and leading Leonardo expert
- Donald SassoonHistorian and author of a history of the Mona Lisa
- Dan BrownAmerican novelist, author of The Da Vinci Code
- Agostino VespucciFlorentine chancellery clerk and assistant to Machiavelli who annotated a Cicero volume in 1503
- Armin SchlechterHeidelberg University librarian who discovered the Vespucci note in 2005
- Vincenzo PeruggiaItalian decorator who stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911
- Francis I of FranceFrench king who hosted Leonardo and acquired the Mona Lisa
- Ludovico SforzaDuke of Milan and Leonardo's patron for about 18 years
- Sigmund FreudFounder of psychoanalysis, cited for the formula of love and work
- SalaìLeonardo's apprentice, proposed by some as the model for the Mona Lisa
- Silvano VincetiItalian researcher who argued the Mona Lisa depicts Salaì
- Isabella d'EsteMarchioness of Mantua and Renaissance art patron, proposed as the sitter
- RaphaelItalian Renaissance painter influenced by the Mona Lisa
- Marcel DuchampFrench artist who parodied the Mona Lisa in L.H.O.O.Q. (1919)
- Andy WarholAmerican pop artist who reproduced the Mona Lisa in 1963
- Théophile GautierFrench poet and critic who cast the Mona Lisa as an eternal beauty
- Jules MicheletFrench historian who wrote rapturously about the Mona Lisa
- Mario PrazItalian critic, author of The Romantic Agony
- Emmanuel MacronPresident of France behind the Louvre's New Renaissance project
Topics
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From the publisher
Is there a secret meaning behind the Mona Lisa’s famously ambiguous smile? What light does the painting shed upon Renaissance Italy, and Leonardo da Vinci himself? And, who is the mysterious man or woman in the painting…? Join Dominic and Tom as they unfold the secret history behind the world’s most famous painting, and delve into the story behind its creator and creation. Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com To read our new newsletter, sign up at: therestishistory.com/newsletters _______ Lloyds. 250 years on and still backing the nation's aspirations. _______ Advertise with us: Partnerships@goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude Senior Producer: Callum Hill Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.