I always wondered why the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world. It's nice, yes, but there are hundreds that are more beautiful and interesting and painted better. There are many paintings that Da Vinci himself did a better job with, in my opinion. So how did it become so famous and why do people think it's such a great painting?
According to the BBC
BBC, the painting's unique fame happened after the painting was stolen in 1911:
"It was called the biggest art heist in history - and Italian workman Vincenzo Peruggia's theft made Leonardo da Vinci's portrait the most famous painting in the world.
Annoyed by how many Italian works were in the French collection, Peruggia took the Mona Lisa from the wall of the Louvre while he was alone in the room and walked out with it under his smock.
It was missing for two years - but the French public queued in their thousands to see the blank space on the wall and the Mona Lisa's fame was guaranteed."
Of course, if a heist is so famous that people line up in the thousands to see the wall where the painting used to be, when the painting is returned, everyone will line up to see that, too.