Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa

Well, what can I say? She’s perfect! My goal in the next 5 pages is to render my own review of the Mona Lisa.

What is the Mona Lisa?

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is one if not the most popular artwork of all time. If science has Albert Einstein & sports entertainment has Michael Jordan, visual arts have the Mona Lisa. The artwork is one of the few if not the only to inspire a Hollywood movie title. It has been assessed for insurance purposes at $100 Million USD in 1962, a value which is $608 Million USD in 2004 considering inflation adjustments, a relatively high price for a portrait. It has been copied & reproduced into several different versions all over the world including postcards, posters, & TV commercials. It is encased in a temperature-controlled bulletproof glass to protect it from any form of physical damage. Need I say more?

Who is the Mona Lisa?

The Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci who usually writes his thoughts in his notebook left no clue about this marvelous painting of his. This results into many different speculations about the sitter’s identity. Leo’s biographer claimed that she was a wife of a wealthy Florentine businessman whose name is Lisa. Monna can be translated in to ma donna which means my wife. Contemporary historians doubt the truthfulness of this claim because to the biographer’s credibility. As years gone by, numerous theories arise & one even suggests that it is a self portrait of Leonardo da Vinci himself. A computer program supports this theory by showing the features of the Mona Lisa and Leonardo’s face aligned. It is true that seeking for the identity of the Mona Lisa is an exciting career but no matter how convincing the assumptions are, the real truth behind her Identity is some information only the maker hold.

Brief History of the Mona Lisa

It is believed that one of the noblest citizen of Florence, Francesco di Bartolommeo di Zanobi del Giocondo, ordered from Leonardo a portrait of his 3rd wife named Lisa di Antonio Maria di Noldo Gherardini.

Da Vinci initiated to work at this painting in 1503 (this is a questionable date). Lisa was 24 at this time.

Leonardo continued working at the portrait for the succeeding 4 years. He did not sell the painting to Francesco. Instead, he kept it for himself when he left Florence in 1507. The reason that Da Vinci did not hand over the painting is because either it is unfinished or he loved it very much. (who knows? Only LDV)

In the year 1516, Leonardo came to France with the Mona Lisa painting. Da Vinci sold it to King Francis I. The king bought it for the castle in Amboise. Later, the Mona Lisa was transferred to Fontainbleau, to Paris, to Versailles and lastly to the collection of Ludwig XIV. The painting got a new home in the Louvre after the revolution in France. From Louvre, Napoleon took the painting and hung it up in his bedroom. The Mona Lisa stayed in Napoleon’s room until he was banished. After that, the painting returned into its home in the great Louvre.

The Mona Lisa was stolen by an Italian thief on the 21^st of August 1911. He brought the painting to Italy. It was recovered 2 years later. The painting traveled for a while before it was brought back to Paris again.

In 1956, the lower half of the painting was destroyed by an acid attempt. It took experts several years for the restoration process.

Mona Lisa visited New York, Tokyo and Moscow in the 1960s-70s. Today, International terms keep the Mona Lisa static. It can no longer be moved from its current location in Louvre.

Mona Lisa features

The portrait shows the sitter from just above the bust, with a distant landscape in the background. Leonardo used a pyramid shape to put the woman simply and calmly in the space of the painting.

One famous feature of the Mona Lisa is her enigmatic smile. Sigmund Freud interpreted it as signifying Leonardo's erotic attraction to his dear mother. Some described it innocent and inviting.

Showing the sly shading effect of his technique called sfumato is the details of her face especially the shadows surrounding her eyes.

Numerous experts have given their explanations to why the smile is seen by people differently. Scientific theories about human vision to curious supposition about Mona Lisa's identity and feelings arise.

The invigorating curves of the sitter’s hair and clothing are mirrored in the wavelike appearance of the valleys and rivers behind her.

The enigmatic woman is portrayed seated in what appears to be an open loggia which is no longer seen today. Behind her is a blurry landscape which leads to hazy icy mountains. A distant bridge & winding paths give indications of no human presence. The unclear outlines, charming figure, profound contrasts of dark & light, & the over-all calmness is Leo’s trademark

This painting was one of the first to represent the sitter in front of an imaginary landscape. The left-hand side of the landscape is noticeably lower than that to the right. This is another strange and interesting feature of the landscape. Some critics suggest that it was added later.

X-ray test of the Mona Lisa have shown that there are three layers of the Mona Lisa under the present one. This means it has been somehow altered from the original.