5 Art Factlets

The Mona Lisa has been a part of France's royal collection since the early 16th century. King Francis I purchased the painting dor 4,000 gold coins from Leonardo after the artist accepted his invitation to live in France in 1517.

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Roman statues were made with detachable heads, so that one head could be removed and replaced by another. The statue above, at the Roman Theatre of Orange 3, had its head replaced as each Roman emperor changed.

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Paul Gaugin, the French painter, was a labourer on the Panama Canal. About 25,000 workers died during its construction.

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Picasso’s painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (“The Young Ladies of Avignon”) now considered a stepping-stone in the birth of modern art, giving rise to cubism and modernism, was at first regarded with abhorrence. It depicts five naked prostitutes, geometrically shaped, and is named after a street in Barcelona infamous for its brothel. Each figure is depicted in a disconcerting confrontational manner and none are conventionally feminine. Picasso’s name for the work, “Le Bordel d'Avignon” (“Brothel of Avignon”) was changed by Picasso’s exhibition manager to lessen the scandalous impact.

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When Rodin’s lifelike, life size statue The Age of Bronze was first exhibited at the 1877 Salon in Paris, Rodin was falsely accused of having made the statue by casting a living model, a charge that was vigorously denied. This charge benefited Rodin though, because people were so eager to see this for themselves.