Overview
The world's greatest artworks belong in galleries where everyone can see them. With Lego's help, however, you can also put a few on your walls. The brand has already turned Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night into plastic bricks, then Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Next up: the one and only Mona Lisa.
Lego's art range not only lets you display iconic works in your own home, but gets you building these masterpieces, too — so, in this case, you'll be taking Leonardo da Vinci's lead. Of course, while he used oil paints back in the 1500s, you'll be snapping together 1503 Lego elements.
Maybe you've seen the real thing at the Louvre. In 2024 so far, perhaps you've hit up Melbourne's immersive da Vinci exhibition and the Gold Coast's Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition for a larger-than-life, multi-sensory Mona Lisa experience. Or, you could've only seen photos of the piece. Whichever fits, being able to construct your own version will ensure that you can look at it whenever you want.
The Mona Lisa Lego kit features pieces in new colours — and if they look a bit brighter than the real artwork, that's because the hues are designed to reflect the tones that da Vinci actually used, not the paint as it looks today after 500-plus-years of ageing.
We weren't kidding about hanging it on your wall, with a detachable frame in drum-lacquered gold included in the set. Once built, the full piece will measure 43 centimetres in height, 30 centimetres in width and four centimetres in depth. Also, while the eyes are a famous part of the work, Lego's iteration gives you two options with the peepers, including blank blocks to make the design more abstract.
If you want to hear more about the Mona Lisa as you put it together, Lego is dropping an art podcast to coincide with the kit's release. Both will arrive on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, but you can pre-order the set now — it costs AU$169.99 and NZ $179.99.
On Saturday, June 1, 2024, as part of the brand's architecture range, Lego is also releasing a Notre-Dame de Paris kit, which'll get you building the landmark from 4383 bricks.
For more information about Lego's new 'Mona Lisa' kit, which goes on sale on Down Under on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, head to the company's website.