Episode 37: I Had My Portrait Painted

have something done — Leonardo da Vinci, 1503 (B1-B2)

Grammar Box

Meaning: “Have something done” means you arrange for someone else to do something for you (you don’t do it yourself).

Form: Subject + have/has/had + object + past participle. The focus is on getting the service or result, not who performs it.

Example 1: “I had my car repaired yesterday.” (Someone else repaired it; I paid/arranged for it.)

Example 2: “She’s having her house painted next week.” (Painters will do it; she’s arranging/paying for it.)

Common mistake: Wrong: “I had my car repair.” Better: “I had my car repaired.” (Need past participle after object.)

The Challenge

Luna wrote: “I need to have my computer fix soon.” Professor Wisdom circled ‘fix.’ “The causative structure needs the past participle: ‘have my computer fixed.’ You’re not fixing it yourself; you’re arranging for someone else to fix it.” Luna tried: “Have it fixed?” “Perfect,” he nodded. “This grammar shows you’re the customer, not the worker.” The watch glowed with artistic light. “Let’s see the most famous ‘have something done’ in art history.”

The Journey

Florence, Italy, 1503. Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant, approached Leonardo da Vinci with a request. His wife, Lisa Gherardini, had recently given birth to their second son. To celebrate and honor her, Francesco wanted something special.

“Maestro Leonardo,” he began respectfully, “I would like to have my wife’s portrait painted. I’ve heard you’re the finest artist in Florence.” Leonardo, then fifty-one and already famous for “The Last Supper,” looked up from his sketches. “Many merchants have their wives’ portraits done. What makes this different?”

Francesco thought carefully. “I don’t just want a painting. I want Lisa truly seen. I want to have her intelligence captured, her quiet mystery preserved. Other artists paint what they see. I want to have something deeper created—her soul on canvas.”

Leonardo’s interest sparked. This wasn’t a man who merely wanted to have a service performed. He wanted art. Over the next three years, Lisa sat for Leonardo countless times. Francesco would later tell friends: “I had the portrait commissioned in 1503, but Leonardo never quite finished. He kept refining, adjusting, perfecting.”

The painting that became the Mona Lisa wasn’t just “having your portrait done”—it was having a masterpiece created through obsessive genius. Leonardo eventually took it with him to France, never delivering it to Francesco. The merchant had paid for a portrait; history received an immortal artwork.

Years later, people would say, “Francesco had his wife painted by Leonardo,” unaware that the simple causative phrase masked one of art’s greatest stories.

The Deep Dive

“Have something done” (causative structure) indicates you arrange or pay for a service performed by someone else, rather than doing it yourself. The structure emphasizes the completion or arrangement of the action, not who performs it. The object comes between ‘have’ and the past participle: have + object + past participle.

Compare: “I paint my house” (I do it myself) vs. “I have my house painted” (I hire someone to paint it). The causative clearly signals a service relationship. This structure works with various tenses: “I’m having it done” (present continuous), “I had it done” (past), “I’ll have it done” (future).

When NOT to use: Don’t use this structure for actions you perform yourself. “I had my dinner cooked” suggests someone else cooked for you; if you cooked it, say “I cooked dinner.” Also, avoid confusion with “have got something done” meaning successfully completed (discussed in next episode).

More Examples

Routine services: “I need to have my hair cut before the interview.” (Hairdresser will cut it; I’m the customer.)

Home maintenance: “We’re having the roof repaired after the storm damage.” (Roofers are doing it; we arranged/paid for it.)

Professional work: “She had her dissertation proofread by a professional editor.” (Editor did it; she hired them.)

Medical: “He needs to have his eyes tested; his vision has gotten worse.” (Optometrist will test; he’ll get the service.)

Contrast: “I fixed my computer” (I did it myself) vs. “I had my computer fixed” (someone else did it; I paid/arranged for it).

Practice & Reflection

Exercises:

1. Fill in the blank: I need to have my passport _ (renew) before it expires.

2. Correct the mistake: “She’s having her wedding dress make by a famous designer.”

3. Choose and explain: Which shows a service relationship?
   a) “I cut my hair yesterday.”
   b) “I had my hair cut yesterday.”

4. Rewrite: Transform “A mechanic is checking my car for problems” into causative structure focusing on you as the customer.

5. Compare: Explain the difference between “I cleaned my apartment” and “I had my apartment cleaned.”

6. Your reflection: Write a sentence about a service you recently had done or need to have done.

Answer Key:
1. renewed (have + object + past participle)
2. “…having her wedding dress made…” (Need past participle ‘made,’ not base form.)
3. (b) shows service relationship (someone else cut my hair). (a) means I cut my own hair.
4. “I’m having my car checked for problems.” (Focus on you as customer, not who’s checking.)
5. “I cleaned” = I did it myself. “I had it cleaned” = I paid/arranged for someone else to clean it.
6. Check: Does your sentence use ‘have + object + past participle’ to show someone else performing a service? Example: “I had my taxes prepared by an accountant this year because they were too complex.”

The Lesson

Luna understood. “So when I say ‘I had something done,’ I’m showing I’m the one who arranged it, but I didn’t do the actual work?” The Professor smiled. “Exactly. Francesco had Lisa’s portrait painted—he commissioned it, paid for it, made it happen. But Leonardo did the painting. The causative structure honors both: the vision of the patron and the skill of the artist.” Luna nodded. Sometimes the most important contribution isn’t doing the work yourself, but knowing when to have someone more skilled do it for you.