 Because of the method used, soon after the painting was completed on 9 February 1498 it began to deteriorate.In 1499, Louis XII contemplated removing the painting from the wall and taking it to France.As early as 1517, the painting was starting to flake, and in 1532 Gerolamo Cardano described it as "blurred and colorless compared with what I remember of it when I saw it as a boy".