en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa.
Had we talked about the importance of the environment half as much as we have talked about the Mona Lisa and her hidden secrets over the last century, there would likely be no climate change. Mona Lisa, painted in 1503 by Leonardo da Vinci, is one of few things in this world that I would consider overrated. The fact that the painting is a masterpiece cannot be denied; however, the line between appreciation and meaningless obsession is quite thin. It is true that the Mona Lisa is an interesting piece of art for many reasons, mainly due to her unknown identity and her smile, which makes her mood appear ambiguous; does this painting really deserve all the attention it gets? Should the identity, mood, and gender of a 500-year-old portrait make us ponder and fascinate us for years? Are there really no other paintings that can come close to offering what Mona Lisa does and more? The truth is that there are a lot of others, the Girl With the Pearl Earring being one of many, painted in 1665.
http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q185372.
The painter, Johannes Vermeer, masterfully uses shadow and light to bring the image of the girl forward, making the girl pop-up from the dark background as a three-dimensional object. There is a sense of ambiguity in this painting as well: Is the girl turning towards or away from you? Who is she? Yet, the many secrets and questions of the Mona Lisa seem to completely eclipse the ones about other paintings. This is not because the Mona Lisa is a much more superior painting when it comes to the quality of the art, but rather because the value of the Mona Lisa has been romanticized and hyperbolized over the years after it was once stolen from the museum of Louvre and then found and returned in 1911. Before that, it wasn’t considered an iconic painting that had made history. Not only has it taken a lot of the spotlight from other paintings, but the Mona Lisa has become a tool for evaluating how good a portrait is. The Girl With the Pearl Earring is considered to be The Mona Lisa of the North. This title sparks great displeasure in me because, in my opinion, using the Mona Lisa as a standard for other portraits belittles other great masterpieces. The Girl With the Pearl Earring is its own thing; labeling it as The Mona Lisa of the North takes away its identity and makes it appear as a ripoff of the original Mona Lisa, even though there is no relation between the two.
Though the Mona Lisa is a great painting, it should not be overestimated as it is these days and more paintings that have an interesting aspect about them should come to the attention of the public.
Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Mona Lisa.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Sept. 2018, http://www.britannica.com/topic/Mona-Lisa-painting.
Da Vinci, Leonardo. “Mona Lisa.” Wikipedia, 1503, Louvre, Paris, France, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa.
TED-Ed, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 18 Oct. 2016, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM_IzEAv5d4&vl=en.
Vermeer, Johannes. “Girl With the Pearl Earring.” Wikidata, 1665, Mauritshuis, Den Haag, Netherlands, http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q185372.
Zelazko, Alicja. “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2 Oct. 2017, http://www.britannica.com/topic/Girl-with-a-Pearl-Earring-by-Vermeer.
Joel's take on Modern Fiction 
As a part-time art enthusiast, I agree with your opinion.
There are many opinions on the Mona Lisa: ranging from negative to positive.
I personally believe there are various other art pieces that surpass the beauty of the Mona Lisa.
However, I also agree that the beauty of artworks is not meant to be quantified and degraded by comparing with other works of art.
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I love this idea, and what a fascinating thought! Because the Mona Lisa is so appraised, it never occurred to me WHY people value it so much. Your argument is based upon logic that any sensible person could follow, whether they might agree or not, and this makes it even more convincing. I think that one of the reasons why this painting is so treasured is simply because it was painted by Da Vinci. I disagree with popular opinion, and think that an artist is as good as his painting, not vice versa, the latter possibly being the case here. Although da Vinci has done amazing work, the Mona Lisa just might be one of his lesser creations, but is valued just the same because it was him who painted her.
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This is so interesting! I love how you compared another piece of art to the Mona Lisa and showed the similarities and differences. This was very well written and It was an intriguing topic. I have always wondered why the Mona Lisa is so famous, so I am happy to hear your input on it,
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This idea is so interesting! I was so fascinated by your idea about the Mona Lisa because I have never thought about the painting this way. You did a very good job making your point about the Mona Lisa. I definitely agree with your idea but I also disagree at the same time. I think that the Mona Lisa is a very beautiful piece of artwork and I do believe that many people obsess about it. This obsession though, does not come from just anywhere; the Mona Lisa is such a famous piece of art work because that is exactly what it is. Things that are amazing aren’t amazing by accident. I feel like the Mona Lisa should have the popularity that it has but at the same time there are so many other pieces of art that should be able to get the same, or even more, of that popularity.
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I really liked how you compared the two painting, which made it more interesting for the reader. I really enjoyed the writing techniques that were used when comparing them. I never knew that much insight on the two paintings and now I do.
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