"La Gioconda" ("Mona Lisa") by Leonardo da Vinci - a brilliant creation of the master

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For decades, historians, art critics, journalists and just interested people have been arguing about the mysteries of the Mona Lisa. What is the secret of her smile? Who is actually captured in the portrait of Leonardo? More than 8 million visitors come to the Louvre every year to admire his creation.

So how did this modestly dressed woman with a slight, barely perceptible smile take pride of place on the podium among the legendary creations of other great artists?

Deserved fame

Let's first forget that the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci is a brilliant creation of the artist. What do we see in front of us? With a barely perceptible smile on her face, a middle-aged, modestly dressed woman is looking at us. She's not pretty, but there's something about her that catches the eye. Glory is an amazing thing. No advertising will help promote a mediocre picture, and the Gioconda is a business cardthe famous Florentine, known throughout the world.

The quality of the picture is impressive, it brings together all the achievements of the Renaissance at the highest level. Here the landscape is subtly combined with the portrait, the gaze is directed at the viewer, the well-known “counterposto” pose, the pyramidal composition… The technique itself is admirable: each of the thinnest layers was superimposed on the other only after the previous one had dried. Using the “sfumato” technique, Leonardo achieved a melting image of objects, with a brush he conveyed the outlines of air, resurrected the play of light and shadow. This is the main value of da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

General recognition

It was the artists who were the first admirers of the La Gioconda by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting of the 16th century is literally filled with traces of the influence of the Mona Lisa. Take, for example, the great Raphael: he seemed to fall ill with a painting by Leonardo, the features of the Mona Lisa can be caught in the portrait of a Florentine, in “The Lady with the Unicorn”, and, most surprisingly, even in the male portrait of Baldasar Castiglione. Leonardo, without knowing it, created a visual aid for his followers, who discovered a lot of new things in painting, taking the portrait of the Mona Lisa as a basis.

Giorgio Vasari, artist and art historian, was the first to translate the glory of the Mona Lisa into a word. In his "Biography of famous painters …" he called the portrait more divine than human, in addition, he gave such an assessment, never having seen the picture live. The author merely expressed the general opinion, thus,giving Gioconda a high reputation among professionals.

Who posed for the portrait?

The only confirmation of how the portrait was created is the words of Giorgio Vazavi, who claims that the painting depicts the wife of Francesco Giocondo, the Florentine magnate, 25-year-old Mona Lisa. He says that while da Vinci was painting the portrait, around the girl they constantly played the lyre and sang, and the court jesters maintained a good mood, it is because of this that Mona Lisa's smile is so gentle and pleasant.

But there is a lot of evidence that Giorgio was wrong. Firstly, a mourning widow's veil covers the girl's head, and Francesco Giocondo lived a long life. Secondly, why didn't Leonardo give the portrait to the customer?

It is known that the artist did not part with the portrait until his death, although he was offered big money for those times. In 1925, art critics suggested that the portrait belonged to Giuliano de' Medici's mistress, the widow Constance d'Avalos. Later, Carlo Pedretti put forward another possibility: it could be Pacifica Bandano, Pedretti's other mistress. She was the widow of a Spanish nobleman, was well educated, had a cheerful disposition and adorned any company with her presence.

Who is Leonardo da Vinci's real Mona Lisa? Opinions differ. Maybe it's Mona Lisa Gherardini, or perhaps Isabella Gualando, Filiberta of Savoy or Pacifica Brandano… Who knows?

From king to king, from kingdom to kingdom

The most serious collectors of the 16th century were the kings, it was their attention that was neededto win over the work in order to break out of the close circle of respect among artists. The first place where the portrait of Mona Lisa was seen was the bath of King Francis I. The monarch placed the picture there not out of disrespect or ignorance of what a brilliant creation he got, on the contrary, the bath in Fontainebleau was the most important place in the French kingdom. There the king rested, had fun with his mistresses, received ambassadors.

After Fontainebleau, the painting "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci visited the walls of the Louvre, Versailles, Tuileries, for two centuries she traveled from palace to palace. Gioconda has become very dark, due to multiple, not entirely successful restorations, her eyebrows and two columns behind her back have disappeared. If it were possible to describe in words everything that Mona Lisa saw outside the walls of French palaces, then the works of Alexandre Dumas would seem dry and boring textbooks.

Forgotten about the Mona Lisa?

In the 18th century, luck turned away from the legendary painting. "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci simply did not fit into the parameters of the beauties of classicism and the frivolous shepherds of rococo. First she was transferred to the rooms of ministers, gradually she fell lower and lower in the court hierarchy until she ended up in one of the darkest corners of Versailles, where only cleaners and petty officials could see her. The painting was not included in the collection of the best paintings of the French king, presented to the public in 1750.

The French Revolution changed the situation. The painting, along with others, was confiscated from the king's collection for the first museum in the Louvre. It turned out that, unlike the kings, the artists were never disappointed in the creation of Leonardo. Fragonard, a member of the Commission of the Convention, was able to adequately evaluate the picture and included it in the list of the most valuable works of the museum. After that, not only kings and courtiers could admire the painting, but everyone in the best museum in the world.

Such different interpretations of the Mona Lisa smile

As you know, you can smile in different ways: seductive, sarcastic, sad, embarrassed or happy. But none of these definitions fit. One of the "specialists" claims that the person depicted in the picture is pregnant, but smiles in an attempt to catch the movement of the fetus. Another claims that she is smiling at Leonardo, her lover.

One of the famous versions says that "La Gioconda" ("Mona Lisa") is a self-portrait of Leonardo. Recently, with the help of a computer, the anatomical features of the faces of Gioconda and da Vinci were compared using a self-portrait of the artist, drawn in red pencil. It turned out that they matched perfectly. It turns out that the Mona Lisa is the female hypostasis of a genius, and her smile is the smile of Leonardo himself.

Why does Mona Lisa's smile fade in and out again?

When we look at the portrait of the Mona Lisa, it seems to us that her smile is fickle: it fades away, then reappears. Why is this happening? The fact is that there is a central vision that focuses on details, and a peripheral one that is not so clear. Thus, it is worth focusing your gaze on the lips of the Mona Lisa - the smile disappears if you look into the eyesor try to cover the whole face - she smiles.

Today, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is in the Louvre. About $ 7 million had to be paid for an almost perfect security system. It includes bulletproof glass, the latest alarm system and a specially designed program that maintains the necessary microclimate inside. The painting is currently insured for $3 billion.