Review: 31213 Mona Lisa
Posted by SetToBuild,Let’s face it, realistic human faces are difficult to build in bricks. As the Art theme develops in leaps and bounds, designers are getting more and more ambitious in the plastic representation of well-known works of art.
Not least of these is this latest impressive interpretation of one of the most famous faces on the planet. While I’m glad that the Star Wars Helmet Collection sticks to heads without faces, I’m excited to find out whether this attempt matches the high bar set by MOC builders.
Summary
31213 Mona Lisa, 1,503 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 6.0p/6.7c/6.7c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A sophisticated representation of Da Vinci’s iconic painting comes alive in LEGO.
- Lots of gold parts
- Encourages creativity
- Reasonable price
- No Leonardo da Vinci minifigure
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Box
The box carries the same black background and bold title as the previous LEGO art sets. Everyone knows beautifully colourful artwork on boxes is for children and not for adult patrons of this sophisticated interlocking brick system!
A QR code on the back of the box should link to a podcast on the LEGO YouTube channel. Unfortunately, it wasn’t uploaded at the time of building, so I listened to the podcast from 31208 Hokusai - The Great Wave instead. Every 18+ LEGO set should come with this extra commentary and audio insight into the making of the product. Having an official “soundtrack” to listen to was a pleasant experience, but having more than a slideshow play on the video would have been welcome. I found myself glancing up at the screen, expecting visuals to be present and help with context.
This is the second time I’ve encountered this new tray-style box. I hope this is the new norm for 18+ sets. TLG has to use more tape, but the box can be packed away nicely or reused instead of tossed in the bin. It appears that the bags fill out the box more evenly in these style boxes and look less like a bad air-to-crisps ratio.
The set comes with 17 numbered bags and two unmarked bags of 16x16 tan plates. Bags 1–5 build the frame and 6–17 build the painting. I figured paper bags would be perfect for an art set, as each bag could be printed with line art and used as colouring pages!
Build Experience
The frame is built first and separately from the canvas. It’s quite punishing on the fingers, so my hands were relieved to find that attaching all of the gold pieces to the frame wasn’t done in one go. Two halves of the brown and gold frame are built separately and then connected with plates and tiles to each other. The gold-ink elements shimmer beautifully in the light. Pearl gold would have been a poor compromise for this elegant-looking frame.
The LEGO website states that this set “includes more gold-coloured bricks than any LEGO set to date.” For all the part-conscious MOC builders out there, this is a great opportunity to get a hearty helping of gold-ink elements for your collection. Unfortunately, many of the 1x6 tiles arrived with slightly scratched corners.
The construction of the canvas is straightforward and could be replicated easily if you wanted to keep the Mona Lisa built, but be able to switch your own creation into the frame. With the front being made entirely of six blank tan 16x16 plates, it offers an open invitation to paint your own masterpiece in bricks. A blurb near the beginning of the instructions reinforces this idea, and encourages the builder to redesign the frame as well.
Like a painting, pieces are applied to the canvas in layers starting with the background. The background uses a clever palette of light-to-dark blues and greys, then transitions to earth tones to recreate a brick version of a technique that Da Vinci used called ‘Aerial Perspective.’ This helps soften the background, and brings the figure to the foreground while giving an overall feeling of depth behind the subject.
This build differs from other art sets which are built on separate 16x16 art plates and later connected together. The fully assembled canvas allows for a much more complex substructure to the painting itself, with many overlapping and interlocking pieces to build up the layers. Despite this, the instructions weren’t overly challenging to follow.
Pleasant moments of brick maths come into play when things fit seamlessly where you don’t expect them to. Something could have been hidden under here—but unlike some similar sets, I didn’t notice any easter eggs or hidden references within the layers.
There are other moments in the build where you ask yourself: “surely there were one or two pieces that could have been used here instead of eight small pieces?!” I believe this was done purposefully to inflate the piece count to 1503, the year that Da Vinci began working on the Mona Lisa. There is excellent use of angular tiles and curved slopes gives the figure dimension.
Some relatively recent pieces come into their own in the detailing, such as the 2x2 cutout tiles forming her curved pinkie finger. Several recoloured parts also assist with the intricate construction of her hands: hands are notoriously difficult to draw, but LEGO have pulled it off in brick!
Once the painting is complete, it is inserted into the frame from the rear, aligned by 1x4 plates, and locked in place using cross axles with a stop end. It’s satisfyingly secure, but easy to remove if you want to switch the painting out. Below the edges, 2x2 inverted slopes give the frame its underside dimension, and above them you can see the painstakingly aligned 1x1 bread tiles—perhaps these won’t be so time-consuming to assemble if you don’t mind seeing the moulding marks!
Completed Model
Once complete, the final painting feels fairly substantial but is not large. The set is about the size of an A3 piece of paper at 43cm (17 in) high, 30 cm (11.5 in) wide and 4cm (1.5 in) deep, while the actual painting’s dimensions are not quite double this at 77cm (30 in) high and 53cm (21 in) wide.
Upon the set’s reveal, some in the fan community took to the internet to say that the face of Mona Lisa belonged somewhere in the uncanny valley. After building the set for myself and seeing it in person, I found it looks much better than the box and product photos suggested initially. Similar to the painting, the Mona Lisa is meant to be the centre of attention and your eyes are meant to lock with hers.
Da Vinci specifically removed any jewellery and simplified her clothes so her face and gaze would be the focus: her eyes do follow you around the room, even in LEGO form. If that creeps you out, LEGO has supplied blank elements to attach for “a more abstract expression”. I also learned that a possible reason she doesn’t have any eyebrows could be from cleaning and restoration over the years.
The existence and science of her perceived smile have been debated for centuries. In the actual painting, as your eyes scan around her face the smile seems to come and go, partly due to the sfumato technique. The LEGO model attempts to recreate this illusion with the curved tiles to the right of the printed mouth tile to help guide your eyes and suggest the slightest muscle tension in her cheeks. When scanning around the image, my brain seems to fill in the presence of a smile in my peripheral vision.
Much like a painting, light and shadow are used to carve out the figure from the background, which is a form of chiaroscuro (literally light-dark). While this effect is not as dramatic in LEGO, the texture of the bricks adds new opportunities for shading: some pieces around the edges of the figure are attached in a way that hovers to cast a real shadow behind them as well as the contrasting brick colours.
Conclusion
This set ambitiously attempts to convey a world-famous face in plates and tiles, without resorting to the obvious mosaic approach like 31198 The Beatles. Within constraints that MOC builders aren’t subject to, I believe the designer made a great, and successful, effort in recreating real painting techniques used by Da Vinci in the LEGO brick.
It doesn’t quite beat my favourite 2.5D art set, 31208 Hokusai - The Great Wave, nor does it offer the striking 3D depth of 21333 Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night, but it’s a close contender. Speaking of which, one lovely detail in Starry Night is the inclusion of the artist minifigure. It seems a great shame not to include a Da Vinci minifigure in this set. Alternatively, a GWP (gift with purchase) model of his studio with a figure would have been delightful.
The price doesn’t feel unreasonable. It’s the same price as the Great Wave, but a little smaller. However, given the very wide mount to the latter set and the much more ornate frame here, the equivalency seems fair. The piece count, although lower than the Great Wave, is quite good for £90, and although many of the parts are small, the fact that they are varied and in interesting colours compensates.
Looking at the ever-increasing refinement of LEGO Art as a whole, this is an excellent contribution to the theme which detail-oriented adult fans will enjoy.
142 likes
73 comments on this article
It frightens me…
I don't like the original painting, but the LEGO execution of it is brilliant. If the subject matter would have been different I would definitely pick it up.
So it's removable from the frame? Is this so you can reenact the famous theft of the Mona Lisa back in 1911?
Thank you for the very informative and well written review. I'm looking forward to getting this set and having the Mona Lisa as my overlord in my Lego room!
Da vinki?
The sister of the Beast Jesus lives!
@merman said:
"It frightens me…"
'Like a work of art, in a state of enchantment'
(The Certainty of Chance, The Divine Comedy)
I couldn't help but think of this song when I saw what you had written.
I really like the Art theme, I can't wait to try this set.
Mona Lisa? Looks more like Coppercab in a wig.
https://youtu.be/gOgpdp3lP8M?si=D-uyodCVzKUpBOvB
Sorry, I'll see myself out
The gold pieces are nice!
Other than that, no thank you.
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa does not lend itself well to a Lego adaptation IMO.
Great review! Will be thinking about the phrase "a bad air-to-crisps ratio" for a long time lol
I personally think it looks amazing, and for pretty good value! It absolutely should've included Leo D.V. though
@Ayliffe said:
"Great review! Will be thinking about the phrase "a bad air-to-crisps ratio" for a long time lol"
Particulary impressive given the reviewer is American :-)
My name is Yoshikage Kira...
Although the face is a little off putting, I still think the designer(s) did a great job with what pieces they used for the subject matter.
Upon the first mention of this set in the rumor stages, I knew it was something I would snap up immediately, and it looks like it will be fun to build and great to display on the wall. But what I'm really looking forward to is replacing the eyes with round 2x2 eye tiles! There was a poster in a vintage bookstore that I frequented while in grad school, that replicated the Mona Lisa but with googly eyes. :)
@AlfredHitchcock said:
"Upon the first mention of this set in the rumor stages, I knew it was something I would snap up immediately, and it looks like it will be fun to build and great to display on the wall. But what I'm really looking forward to is replacing the eyes with round 2x2 eye tiles! There was a poster in a vintage bookstore that I frequented while in grad school, that replicated the Mona Lisa but with googly eyes. :)"
Well, wouldn't you know--Matthew at Brick Fanatics beat me to it! But he used 3x3 eyes, so he didn't get it quite right... ;)
The eyeless version is creepy. As in: nightmare-inducing, therapy-causing, scary-as-heck, drive-you-insane-just-looking-at-it creepy.
The dragon did not disappoint! Great review.
"It appears that the bags fill out the box more evenly in these style boxes..."
You'd need to damage the box to demonstrate this, but when you pop the seals on an end-opening box, all of the contents settle down into one end of the box. The weight is all concentrated in a small column, so the stuff on the bottom gets pressed down, and less of the bags are sitting loose at the top.
With this style box, the bags are spread out over about 4-5x as much area. There's less weight pressing down on the bottom bags, there's more bags sitting loose at the top, and it's easier to miss that the top 20% of the box is all air when it's spread out so thin. There's probably also the psychological effect of simply seeing more of the contents spread out with better lighting.
@Murdoch17:
You could mount black buttons on the face to make the Coraline version.
@PurpleDave said:
""
@Murdoch17 :
You could mount black buttons on the face to make the Coraline version."
You just made it 57% more creepy with that suggestion. Creepiness factor now at 212%... My mind can't repel creepiness of this magnitude! Shields failing! ABANDON SHIP! *mind dissolves into puddle of grey goo*
The upper lip being a hard-angled rectangle is the one bit I can't forgive. They curved and softened the lower lip, but put a RECTANGLE print for the upper lip.
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?
@PurpleDave said:
"With this style box, the bags are spread out over about 4-5x as much area. There's less weight pressing down on the bottom bags, there's more bags sitting loose at the top, and it's easier to miss that the top 20% of the box is all air when it's spread out so thin. There's probably also the psychological effect of simply seeing more of the contents spread out with better lighting."
Yes, my comments were on the builder’s impression, rather than measuring the volume of bricks, bags and air precisely. Customers have often commented on how they feel short-changed by large, mostly empty boxes, so their perception will be more positive if the way the bags lie in the box doesn’t emphasise this as much. Maybe the bags themselves are bigger too. If you've encountered paper bags, you'll know that it would look even more full as they're more bulky!
@raven_za said:
"The dragon did not disappoint! Great review."
Thank you! I'm glad the dragon was appreciated :)
@Ayliffe said:
"Great review! Will be thinking about the phrase "a bad air-to-crisps ratio" for a long time lol"
Haha! I'm glad :D
@Roxtus said:
"My name is Yoshikage Kira..."
Came to comment the same thing LOL
He’d be proud of how accurate the hands are
can't wait to get this as a parts pack, let's gooooo
hopefully it'll get a nice discount
@sjr60 said:
"Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?"
Do you smile to tempt an AFOL, Mona Lisa?
@blogzilly said:
" @sjr60 said:
"Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?"
Do you smile to tempt an AFOL, Mona Lisa?"
Well she tempts me, even though she ain't no oil painting... oh, hang on....
I'm totally fine with this one being loaned to Edward Norton... ;-)
@sjr60 said:
" @blogzilly said:
" @sjr60 said:
"Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?
Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?"
Do you smile to tempt an AFOL, Mona Lisa?"
Well she tempts me, even though she ain't no oil painting... oh, hang on...."
Does her beauty shame the rose?!
Thanks for the review. It's definitely uncanny valley for me. The frame looks great, and if I were after a load of gold-ink parts I'd probably get it regardless, but the face is just wrong. I think it's the lack of eyebrows or shading combined with the rectangular upper lip. It's a game effort but it doesn't do it for me. The Milky Way on the other hand looks incredible..
I'd say 76271 is also worth comparing against as an awesome example of "2.5D" as you put it. I love this set. There are so many great and varied sets these days that it's never going to make it high enough on my list to make it into the budget, but it's very cool and if I ever ended up with it, I'd really enjoy it.
It only costs that much! I thought the Mona Lisa was worth hundreds of millions!
This set is like Technic. Will look good far away. Far, far away.
@pgremeau said:
"I'm totally fine with this one being loaned to Edward Norton... ;-)"
Looks a lot easier to sanitize if the Minions drop it in the Seine, too.
@Murdoch17 said:
"The eyeless version is creepy. As in: nightmare-inducing, therapy-causing, scary-as-heck, drive-you-insane-just-looking-at-it creepy."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noppera-b%C5%8D
Does anyone know why the release date of this set had been delayed?
@WizardOfOss said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"The eyeless version is creepy. As in: nightmare-inducing, therapy-causing, scary-as-heck, drive-you-insane-just-looking-at-it creepy."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noppera-b%C5%8D"
Whatever it is, I'm not clicking that link. I like whatever sanity I have left, thank you very much.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"The eyeless version is creepy. As in: nightmare-inducing, therapy-causing, scary-as-heck, drive-you-insane-just-looking-at-it creepy."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noppera-b%C5%8D"
Whatever it is, I'm not clicking that link. I like whatever sanity I have left, thank you very much."
You have chosen....wisely.
Japanese ghost stuff ;-)
@WizardOfOss said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"The eyeless version is creepy. As in: nightmare-inducing, therapy-causing, scary-as-heck, drive-you-insane-just-looking-at-it creepy."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noppera-b%C5%8D "
Whatever it is, I'm not clicking that link. I like whatever sanity I have left, thank you very much."
You have chosen....wisely.
Japanese ghost stuff ;-)"
Nope. Nope. Nope-ity-nope nope. I am now certain I will NOT be clicking that link! (I don't do scary - never have, never will!)
@ra226 said:
"I'd say 76271 is also worth comparing against as an awesome example of "2.5D" as you put it."
Oh true! That one is on my wish list too! Just gotta figure out where to hang it haha
@Maxbricks14 said:
"It only costs that much! I thought the Mona Lisa was worth hundreds of millions!"
Yes, this is one "real-life object" set where you absolutely cannot make the "You can buy a real one for cheaper" argument.
@Murdoch17 said:
"The eyeless version is creepy. As in: nightmare-inducing, therapy-causing, scary-as-heck, drive-you-insane-just-looking-at-it creepy."
reminds me of the mystery shows, someone behind painting looking through eyes.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"It only costs that much! I thought the Mona Lisa was worth hundreds of millions!"
Yes, this is one "real-life object" set where you absolutely cannot make the "You can buy a real one for cheaper" argument."
Just wait secondary market... or after retires. You fee like your buying real one hahaha
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"It only costs that much! I thought the Mona Lisa was worth hundreds of millions!"
Yes, this is one "real-life object" set where you absolutely cannot make the "You can buy a real one for cheaper" argument."
Devil's advocate: there's always printing out the portrait. Or a poster.
@missedoutagain said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"It only costs that much! I thought the Mona Lisa was worth hundreds of millions!"
Yes, this is one "real-life object" set where you absolutely cannot make the "You can buy a real one for cheaper" argument."
Just wait secondary market... or after retires. You fee like your buying real one hahaha"
I dunno. With all the adult investors now out there, I don't think it would be worth as much as it might have without investors.
@WizardOfOss said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"The eyeless version is creepy. As in: nightmare-inducing, therapy-causing, scary-as-heck, drive-you-insane-just-looking-at-it creepy."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noppera-b%C5%8D"
https://l5r.fandom.com/wiki/Face_of_the_Nameless/card
Who is a designer of this set?
I will not buy this set as I said many times - art like that work as a MOC but not as sellable piece for me... BUT The design work is AMAZING!
I'm sure they did the best they could, but I just can't even...
Lego is evil : if the eyes creep you out, you can make her eyeless.
There's a spider toggle option in our game... it makes them bigger with extra legs
When I first heard about this set, I thought it would inevitably be a disaster - but I have to say, it looks like Lego did a great job with this. Kudos to them - and also for this great, very detailed review!
@PurpleDave said:
" @pgremeau said:
"I'm totally fine with this one being loaned to Edward Norton... ;-)"
Looks a lot easier to sanitize if the Minions drop it in the Seine, too."
Wrong movie?
Thanks for the review, i actually kind of like it now. Of course i would alter it if i would get it. But that is also the fun of this set i guess. Moc that Mona!
@pgremeau said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @pgremeau said:
"I'm totally fine with this one being loaned to Edward Norton... ;-)"
Looks a lot easier to sanitize if the Minions drop it in the Seine, too."
Wrong movie?"
Not a movie. Happened during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics.
@daniellesa said:
" 'Like a work of art, in a state of enchantment'
(The Certainty of Chance, The Divine Comedy)"
By no means my favourite song, but perhaps my favourite band.
As much as I like Jimmy Carr, is he really worthy of a set?
Needs the 4th Doctor.
@TheOriginalSimonB said:
"Needs the 4th Doctor."
Needs a printed piece under the actual painting saying 'This is a Fake' as well.
(FINALLY! Someone else has seen that serial!)
@TheOriginalSimonB said:
"Needs the 4th Doctor."
The Doctor makes everything better.
@PurpleDave said:
" @pgremeau said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @pgremeau said:
"I'm totally fine with this one being loaned to Edward Norton... ;-)"
Looks a lot easier to sanitize if the Minions drop it in the Seine, too."
Wrong movie?"
Not a movie. Happened during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics."
also was not real mona lisa
@TheOtherMike said:
" @TheOriginalSimonB said:
"Needs the 4th Doctor."
The Doctor makes everything better."
I’ve just been watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade which has Julian Glover (Jagaroth) in it. Coincidence? I think not!
@bealegopro said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"It only costs that much! I thought the Mona Lisa was worth hundreds of millions!"
Yes, this is one "real-life object" set where you absolutely cannot make the "You can buy a real one for cheaper" argument."
Devil's advocate: there's always printing out the portrait. Or a poster."
But that's still not a real one, it's a copy.
When was this leaked again? I thought this was a review that made it out before the embargo lifted
@TheOtherMike said:
"But that's still not a real one, it's a copy."
So pay someone to paint you a counterfeit. Then it'll be a real painting. Just not _this_ painting. And it'll probably look like garbage, because your budget is $99.98 or lower.
Aaaaaagh!
@Murdoch17 said:
"So it's removable from the frame? Is this so you can reenact the famous theft of the Mona Lisa back in 1911?"
Or the Doctor Who story “City of Death”. But then of course you’d need to buy six copies of the set…
@starkllr said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"So it's removable from the frame? Is this so you can reenact the famous theft of the Mona Lisa back in 1911?"
Or the Doctor Who story “City of Death”. But then of course you’d need to buy six copies of the set…
"
Could also be the Sarah Jane Adventures episode where the Mona Lisa comes to life and traps people in paintings while trying to unleash a demon painting that makes you go crazy looking at it.... (yes, this actually happened!) The episode is called 'Mona Lisa's Revenge'
@Huw said:
" @Ayliffe said:
"Great review! Will be thinking about the phrase "a bad air-to-crisps ratio" for a long time lol"
Particulary impressive given the reviewer is American :-)"
It's chips! CHIPS!!!
The only time we call fries "chips" is if it's Fish n' Chips. IDK about y'all but Fish n' Fries sounds too tacky.
Jimmy Carr's looking well.
This set is lame with a capital L in my opinion and is more like a buy on major sale for it's parts.
I think, the eyeless version is, actually, less creepy. Her stare is so intense.
Come on it's Jimmy Carr in drag!