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50 Hilariously Relatable Art History Memes That Prove Nothing Has Changed In Hundreds Of Years
You needn’t study art to have heard of Picasso, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci or the Mona Lisa. Especially the Mona Lisa. The lady with the smile. Is she sad? Is she happy? We might never know. She’s memorable. That much we do know. The Mona Lisa was the mother of memes since before memes were even a thing. There have been so many variations of the famous painting that you’d be forgiven for forgetting what the original looked like.
But the Mona Lisa isn’t the only meme-worthy work of art that’s providing people with endless entertainment. Twitter page Art History Memes for Aesthetic Fiends has over 50 thousand followers. All art and meme lovers. Keep scrolling for some classic examples of life imitating art. And find out how the Mona Lisa became a global icon.
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It is said Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci started painting her somewhere between 1503 or 1506. The real Mona Lisa was apparently a lady called Lisa Gherardini who married a wealthy Italian man and became Lisa del Giocondo. Her husband had asked da Vinci to paint her. But the portrait became a masterpiece in procrastination.
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Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago (edited)
I was the print buyer for Trans America/Speedy Auto Glass. My boss tells me that his frat brother just bought a printing company in Seattle and wanted to solicit our business. I told Doug I had no intention of switching, but I'd take the meeting. Guy shows up, we shook hands and then he literally was talking to my boobs. I let him go on for a bit and then tilted my head to my far left, making eye contact with him and said, "They don't speak, Ed." He turned almost purple and Doug was laughing so hard I thought he was going to fall out of his chair. I just said, "Meeting terminated".
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Da Vinci worked on it for several years, carrying it everywhere with him. He’s believed to have only finished it shortly before he died in 1519. And it was never handed over to the client. Instead, the artist sold it to France’s King Francis I in 1518. The painting eventually ended up in The Louvre in Paris but didn’t attract as much attention back then as it does now. And here's why...
Ms Mona Lisa is known for her mysterious smile and captivating gaze. But that’s not what made her so famous. On 21 August 1911, a maintenance worker at The Louvre snuck into the museum on a Saturday afternoon. The Italian ripped the painting off the wall, hid it under his clothes and walked out onto the street.
The theft made world headlines. And the painting gained fame overnight. Crowds poured into the gallery to see the empty space where it once hung. Newspapers printed photos of it. The Mona Lisa was turned into postcards, a short film and even cabaret songs. But the original painting remained missing. As police investigated, another famous artist Pablo Picasso was one of those arrested on suspicion he’d stolen it. He was quickly released and the search continued.
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Der Kommissar 1 year ago (edited)
As a former swing shift worker (3pm to 9 or 10pm) at the post office many years ago, I did notice that the midnight shift workers had a grayish pallor
#15
Laugh or not 1 year ago
I once went to an exhibition of Picasso's work when he was young, even a teenager. He had nothing to prove about figurative art. His drawings were as precise as a photo before he was twenty. No wonder he looked for other ways of expression.
“Generous rewards were promised for her return – but all in vain. Nothing was heard of the painting for over two years. Then one day, Vincenzo Peruggia, a glazier who had worked at the Louvre, tried to sell the world’s most famous painting to an Italian art dealer...who alerted the authorities. So the Mona Lisa was recovered – and her fame was all the greater,” reads The Louvre’s website.
The high-profile heist turned the Mona Lisa into a global icon. She was exhibited in Florence, Milan and Rome, before being returned to the Louvre. More than 100 thousand people visited her in the first two days “back home”.
#18
Der Kommissar 1 year ago (edited)
Bosch (and Breugel) are two rather unusual Classical Artists and therefore atypical
In 1919, an artist called Charles Duchamp drew a mustache and goatee on a replica of Mona Lisa - and the world was never the same again. Mona Lisa became a mood. Duchamp had paved the way for a plethora of parodies. Other artists, and then the public, followed suit. There was Mona Lisa fever. Pneumonia Lisa, Corona Lisa, Monday Lisa, Menopausa Lisa.
#19
Analyn Lahr 1 year ago
I mean...as a cat lady, I find this to be accurate. I'm single but I know I would put my cats first if I were in a romantic relationship with a human.
#21
Despite being centuries old, Mona Lisa remains a modern muse. She’s managed to reinvent herself many more times than Madonna. We reimagine her magical smile and move her into situations we can relate to. A sly grin after getting away with something sneaky or a fake smile when faced with an awkward social situation. There are even websites like this one, dedicated solely to Mona Lisa memes.
As Elephant Magazine reported, “Most of these memes see the Mona Lisa reimagined as a contemporary figure: she’s posing for a selfie with duck face; she’s cuddling a Shiba; she’s having a bad hair day; and in the age of corona, she’s now even donned a face mask.”
#23
The Commentator 1 year ago (edited)
Ancient wifi protection. Only for those who get wifi stolen from them.
And as the art magazine aptly states, “By making her into a meme we also make the Mona Lisa one of us. We enjoy it when celebrities are just like us, and who cares if she’s just an inanimate Renaissance painting, the fame and zeal she’s created is on a level with the instafamous stars of today."
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Auntriarch 1 year ago
I used to work in an extremely ugly building, but I could see the cathedral from my window. I think I had the better deal
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Sweetie Dahling 1 year ago
When we visited the Mauritshuis last year they had a great exhibit of Girl with the Pearl Earring remakes/ interpretations because the original was loaned to another museum. Wish this version would've been a part of it! (My favourite one was comprised of buttons)
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Steinem Sukker Rumpe 1 year ago
Due to peasant armies. You showed up with a work tool, it was sharpened and you were ready to war
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Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago
These were a punishment called the "Dunkard's Cloak". It was to shame people to stop drinking.
#70
PattonPawter 1 year ago
if anyone’s curious this is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec‘s Wikipedia page
#72
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Andy Frobig 1 year ago
I almost never look at the stuff between the memes, but this time I saw that the editor told a story about Charles Duchamp. His name wasn't Charles, it was Marcel
Christopher Crockett 1 year ago
I majored in Art History but never completed my Masters, taught as a grad student, worked in a museum and as a graphic designer. Humor is absolutely a great teaching tool! It's a great way to break the ice and relieve tension.
Andy Frobig 1 year ago
I almost never look at the stuff between the memes, but this time I saw that the editor told a story about Charles Duchamp. His name wasn't Charles, it was Marcel
Christopher Crockett 1 year ago
I majored in Art History but never completed my Masters, taught as a grad student, worked in a museum and as a graphic designer. Humor is absolutely a great teaching tool! It's a great way to break the ice and relieve tension.
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