.png)
1 week ago
42
About
It's Like Watching the Mona Lisa Being Painted or This Is Like Watching Da Vinci Paint the Mona Lisa is a catchphrase used online to describe the act of seeing a masterpiece being made, often used in the context of a behind-the-scenes look at the origin of a viral meme, video or other notable pop culture icon. The phrase compares the subject to a great work of art like Da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting.
The phrase has been used online to describe seeing a masterpiece or a master in action since as early as 2010. It was further popularized throughout the 2020s, when it started being regularly used on sites like X / Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and more as a way of describing behind-the-scenes looks at meme and viral video-related content.
Origin
The exact origins of the phrase, "It's like watching the Mona Lisa being painted," are unconfirmed. The earliest known example of the phrase online was posted by X / Twitter user @HAAKnessmonster on December 30th, 2010, who wrote, "Watching @GucciSick69 wrestle is like going back in time and watching the mona lisa being painted #greatness," gaining zero interactions in 16 years. The phrase was most likely used before this, either in real life or online.
Spread
Versions of the catchphrase continued to be occasionally used online throughout the mid-to-late 2010s, continuing into the 2020s.
On May 22nd, 2024, X user @koralinadean posted, "this is like watching leonardo da vinci paint the mona lisa," in response to a now-deleted tweet that purportedly shared a behind-the-scenes clip of a scene from High School Musical, gaining over 107,000 likes in two years. This is the earliest known post to use the phrase and gain notable interactions.
On August 10th, 2025, the memezar Instagram page posted a behind-the-scenes video of the fight scene between Peter Parker and Flash Thompson from Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man movie, writing, "This is like watching Da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa," garnering over 246,000 likes in nine months.
On December 19th, the Vörös Twins posted an image to Facebook purportedly showing the photographer take the Cooked Dog meme photo, writing, "It’s like seeing the Mona Lisa being painted by Da Vinki," garnering over 27,000 likes and 2,200 shares in five months.
On March 3rd, 2026, X user @Eden_Eats quote-reposted a photo of an artist drawing two dalmations as part of the behind-the-scenes work on the film 101 Dalmations, writing, "It’s like watching the Mona Lisa being painted," gaining over 114,000 likes in two months.
On April 3rd, Redditor Sweet_Television4183 posted a screenshot to the /r/BatmanArkham subreddit of a tweet claiming to share the original AI prompt used to generate Tung Tung Tung Sahur, titling the post, "This is like watching Mona Lisa being painted," gaining over 8,000 upvotes in a month.
On April 18th, TikToker @pnd.a8 posted a clip of the IshowSpeed stream that spawned the Say Wallahi Bro meme, captioning the video with the phrase, garnering over 6.6 million views in a month.
On May 8th, 2026, X user @HdBeebs used the post in reference to the Hermit Purple meme, garnering over 6,000 likes in five days.
@pnd.a8 #saywallahi #speed #ishowspeed ♬ original sound – Kw
English (US) ·