Why do people study Mona Lisa’s smile?

Because the smile in her painting is very weird

For hundreds of years, the Italian Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece "Mona Lisa" has fascinated the world with its mysterious smile. . As for the true meaning behind this smile, everyone has different interpretations, so it has become a big mystery in the history of art. According to a report by Agence France-Presse on December 14, recently, a computer at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands used an algorithm to calculate the secret of Mona Lisa's smile.

A smile contains 4 emotions

With the help of computer "emotion recognition software",

Scientists discovered that the smile of the "Mona Lisa" contains *** Contains 4 emotions: 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% scared, 2% angry.

The software first creates a "general expression" template based on the face of a young woman in the database, and then compares key facial features such as the curvature of lips and wrinkles around the eyes with this template to identify humans. mood. Currently, the software can recognize six basic emotions: happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear and sadness.

The true meaning of the smile is still a mystery

As for why the "Mona Lisa" has these contradictory emotions at the same time, Professor Huang Xutao, who participated in the study, said frankly, "It needs a more accurate interpretation." Mona Lisa's smile still requires work with psychologists and artists to explore the true meaning behind the subtle expressions of human faces."

Psychologist Cynthia McEvoy of the University of Glasgow in the UK tried. Analyze the ambivalent emotions of "Mona Lisa" from a psychological perspective. "Da Vinci wanted to paint her, which made the 'Mona Lisa' very happy. But she was a little disgusted by an old man painting her portrait. The reason for her anger was that she had been sitting there for a long time. Da Vinci It’s not finished yet.”

Professor Donald Sassoon of the University of London believes that Leonardo da Vinci deliberately concealed the model’s true emotions, leaving a huge space for people’s imagination.

Leonardo da Vinci believed that human beings are the most sacred. The human body is the most beautiful image in nature. He has repeatedly measured and proved that the proportions of various parts of the human body are integer ratios, so the human body presents the most harmonious beauty, which he calls "sacred proportions." He said: "Whoever does not respect life is not worthy of life." "Mona Lisa" is exactly what he used to sing the beauty of human beings with a real female smile, calling for the awakening of human nature and praising the loveliness of life. at. embodies his philosophy of life.

The right hand of "Mona Lisa" is known as the most beautiful hand in the history of world art. Although the scientific and advanced modern photography technology is extremely superb, if you compare this hand with modern photography, you can still see that this hand has more volume, weight and vitality. In the gap between the middle fingers that are almost completely in the air, people seem to be able to hear the beauty of the music and feel the momentary joy of the Mona Lisa. It is difficult for modern photography to record this inner charm.

Many painters in the early 16th century tended to focus on correct shapes, tight outlines, accurate lines, and clear details. As a result, the images they painted often lacked vitality. The rigid "Sleeping Beauty" appeared. Only Leonardo da Vinci raised the vividness to a higher level and created many vibrant images. However, since the advent of the Mona Lisa, what people have admired and debated endlessly is Mona Lisa's "mysterious smile". What exactly is the reason for Mona Lisa’s “mysterious smile”? What does her smile mean? Some say it is a "charming smile", some say it is an "evil smile", and some think it is an incomprehensible and mysterious smile, an eternal mystery. In fact, the smile of Mona Lisa seen in the picture is a kind of peaceful confidence and optimistic and calm demeanor. And this is exactly the characteristic of that era when people were awakening from the weight of Christian theology and pursuing a new life after the long darkness of the Middle Ages.

The smile of Mona Lisa in the painting not only shows her elegance, nobility and joy, but also her joy and joy for the new world and new life. There is no trace of doubt or fear here, no trace of the dullness, coldness and fear of the world that characterized the characters painted by medieval painters. Unlike the lifeless people who were slaves of gods in medieval portraits, the Mona Lisa is a flesh-and-blood image full of youth and vitality. Leonardo da Vinci used his "Mona Lisa" to show the new spiritual outlook of the people of that great era, revealing people's yearning, optimism and confidence for a new life. At the same time, it also expresses his passionate praise for man and the beauty of man after being freed from the shackles of God. Mona Lisa's smile gives this character an infinite depth and breadth of artistic conception. Whether it is its own harmonious poetry or its profound and extensive sociological and historical implications, it has reached an unparalleled height. From this point of view, Mona Lisa’s smile is also an eternal song. In the Mona Lisa, rational principles and high poetry, lofty spirit and vivid body, emotion and reason, science and art are all harmoniously and perfectly unified. This is the complete image of Renaissance man. It is an outstanding example of comprehensive development in the course of human history. "Mona Lisa" expresses the great ideological content of the era and the astonishing depth of artistic attainments, so for centuries, people have continued to have undiminished enthusiasm for its eternal charm.

After Leonardo da Vinci painted this painting, he kept it with him as a collection. It was not until his death that it was collected by King Francis I of France. The painting is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.