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How did Walter Pater describe the Mona Lisa?
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Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, 1503β19; in the Louvre, Paris.
During the 19th century, the English author Walter Pater famously described the Mona Lisa as a vampire who "has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave."1
This characterization was part of a broader trend during the Romantic era in which the subject of the painting was transformed from a simple Florentine housewife into a mysterious, enigmatic figure.1