Understanding of a certain artist and his works of art (artist in art)

The author Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), a cultural celebrity during the Italian Renaissance, and the portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

Michelangelo, Sandy .Raphael is also known as the three masters of the Renaissance and a rare all-rounder in the history of human civilization. He was not only a talented painter, sculptor, architect, poet, philosopher and musician, but also an accomplished anatomist, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer and engineer, etc. For more than 10 years, when people talk about the cultural progress of mankind, they will mention one of its splendid and glorious pages - the Italian Renaissance, and think of Leonardo da Vinci's great achievements.

"Mona Lisa" is a prestigious portrait masterpiece. It represents Leonardo da Vinci's highest artistic achievement and successfully created the image of an urban proletarian woman during the rise of capitalism. The characters in the painting sit elegantly with subtle smiles, and the mountains and rivers in the background are deep and vast, which fully demonstrates the artist's unique smoke-like "unbounded gradient coloring" brushwork. The painter strives to skillfully combine the rich inner emotions of the characters with the beautiful appearance. He also pays special attention to mastering the dialectical relationship between precision and implicitness in the key parts of the portrait's face that express emotion, such as the corners of the eyes and lips, to achieve a state of verve and charm. Nalisa's smile has a mysterious and everlasting charm. Her dream-like and charming smile has been called a "mysterious smile" by many art historians. Under the influence of humanistic ideas, Leonardo da Vinci focused on expressing human emotions. In terms of composition, Leonardo da Vinci changed the past habit of using a side bust or a bust when painting portraits, and replaced it with a frontal bust composition. The perspective point was slightly raised, making the composition pyramid-shaped, making the Mona Lisa look more dignified. ,steady. In addition, Mona Lisa's hands are soft, precise and plump, showing her gentleness, identity and class status, and showing Leonardo da Vinci's superb painting skills and his keen observation of nature. In addition, Mona Lisa’s eyebrows disappeared due to a chemical reaction, and there was a blue sky in the background. According to research, Mona Lisa's smile contains 83% happiness, 9% disgust, 6% fear, and 2% anger.

The Mystery of the Smile

For 500 years, people have been divided on the mysterious smile of the "Mona Lisa". Different viewers or viewing at different times may have different feelings. Sometimes I think she smiles comfortably and gently, sometimes she looks serious, sometimes she seems slightly sad, and sometimes she even looks sarcastic and teasing. In a painting, changes in light cannot make as big a difference as in sculpture. But on Mona Lisa's face, faint shadows appear and disappear, covering her eyes and lips with a veil. Human smiles are mainly shown at the corners of the eyes and mouth, but Leonardo da Vinci painted these parts vaguely without clear boundaries, which is why there is this elusive "mysterious smile". A university in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, used "emotion recognition software" to analyze the contents and proportions of Mona Lisa's smile: 83% happiness, 9% disgust, 6% fear, and 2% anger. Dr. Margaret Livingstone, a neuroscientist at Harvard University, said that Mona Lisa's smile disappears and appears, which is related to the human visual system, not because of the mysterious expression of the person in the painting. Dr. Livingstone is an authority on visual nerve activity, focusing on the study of how the eyes and brain respond to different Mona Lisa

[1] contrasts and light and dark. "The smile appears and disappears because the viewer changes the position of their eyes," Livingstone said. There are two different parts of the human eye that receive images, she said. The central part (the shallow pit on the retina) is responsible for distinguishing colors and fine marks. Pay attention to black and white, movement and shadow around the outer part of the dimple. According to Livingstone, when people look at a face, their eyes are mostly focused on the other person's eyes. If one's central vision is focused on Mona Lisa's eyes, less accurate peripheral vision will focus on her mouth. Because peripheral vision does not pay attention to subtleties, the shadows of the cheekbones are invisibly highlighted. As a result, the arc of the smile appears even wider. However, when looking directly at Mona Lisa's mouth, central vision does not see the shadow. Livingstone said: "If you look at her mouth, you will never be able to capture her smile." Mona Lisa's looming smile comes from people's constant shifting of eyes. Livingstone pointed out that if you want to copy the "Mona Lisa", you have to look away when depicting the mouth. In 1993, Canadian art historian Susan Giroux published a shocking research result. She said that Mona Lisa's lips, which fascinate countless viewers, are a man's naked back. This assertion is new and absurd, but the argument is powerful. Leonardo da Vinci, who was a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and scientist, could be described as a "weirdo". He likes to wear pink coats, paint his beard with colorful colors without scruples, and often claims that he has dissected no less than 30 corpses. He was also left-handed and used to write backwards from right to left. Others had to use a mirror to read what he wrote. Therefore, using a mirror is also a way for appreciators to read paintings. After rotating 90 degrees and looking in the mirror, Mona Lisa's pursed smiling lips happen to be the back of a strong man with clear lines and the corner of his left arm and elbow; besides, expressing the beauty of the human body and calling for the awakening of humanity are both the master's His philosophy of life is also his view of art.

Indeed, people will have different feelings when appreciating this painting from different angles and under different lights. The smile is sometimes gentle, sometimes serene and serious, sometimes a little sad, and sometimes a bit sarcastic and teasing. The mysterious smile reveals the mysterious and unpredictable spiritual activities of the characters. Over the past hundreds of years, new interpretations of "smile" have emerged one after another. For example, the smile does not reveal the white teeth because although the prototype is elegant and beautiful, it has uneven speech; the original expert reveals that the Mona Lisa hides four animal types. Because her beloved daughter died young, she was melancholy and unhappy, and could not hide her sadness; What's more, the Mona Lisa was pushed down from the throne of a noble lady and the prototype was demoted to a prostitute, so the smile was filled with ridicule and teasing. Dr. Joseph Baukowsky of Maryland, USA, believes: "Mona Lisa is not smiling at all. Her facial expression is a typical indication that she wants to hide that she has no front teeth." Jean Jacques, a brain surgeon in Lyon, France ·Dr. Condette believes that Mona Lisa has just suffered a stroke. Please see, the muscles in half of her face are loose, and her face is crooked, so she appears to be smiling. British doctor Dr. Kenneth Gaye believes that Mona Lisa is pregnant. He based this on the fact that she had a satisfied look on her face, her skin was fresh, and her hands were folded on her belly. Sexology experts speculate that Mona Lisa had just experienced an orgasm, so she showed a smile that attracted the world. There is also an almost nonsensical theory: her expression is as if she has taken aniline, which is a pleasure hormone produced in the human body after eating chocolate. Few people believed this statement because there was no chocolate at that time. Sinkel Kenrell, a professor of anthropology at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, believes that Mona Lisa has such a smile because she has eaten full, because the curvature of the corners of her mouth and the movement of her hand gently placing on her abdomen are similar to the way humans feel when they are full. The reaction after a meal was exactly the same. In the painting, the horizon on the left is lower than the right, and the left side of the Mona Lisa looks larger than the right side. Historically, the left side represents women, reflecting Leonardo's admiration for women. In fact, the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci's self-portrait have many similarities. In Egyptian legend, the god in charge of male genitals is called Amon, and the god in charge of female genitals is called Isis - ancient text It was once read as LISA in the novel, so Mona Lisa implies AMON LISA, that is, Mona Lisa is neither a man nor a woman, but a combination of both sexes.

The mystery of authenticity

According to previous reports, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is collected in the Louvre Museum in Paris. However, there is a saying in the collecting community that the one hanging in the Louvre is not the "Mona Lisa". The real "Mona Lisa" is on the wall of an apartment in London. Dr. Pulitzer, the custodian of this apartment and this work, said that after the "Mona Lisa" was completed, the work stayed in Lisa de Zogon's family. Later, another nobleman asked Leonardo da Vinci to paint a portrait of his mistress. This woman, known as "La Gioconda" (meaning "the smiling one"), looked very similar to the Mona Lisa. . So, in a moment of laziness, Leonardo da Vinci replaced the face of the Mona Lisa with La Gioconda. After the painting was completed, the nobleman abandoned La Gioconda and did not buy the painting. Later, Leonardo da Vinci went to France at the invitation of Francis I and brought this painting with him. Pulitzer said that it was the portraits of La Gioconda that added to the brilliance of the Louvre. "Mona Lisa" later traveled to England and was bought by William Blake, a museum curator and art connoisseur, at the beginning of this century. Later, it was acquired by a Swiss consortium, of which Pulitzer was a member. At the beginning of this century, many people copied and forged famous works of art on a large scale. There was reason to suspect that the one in London was a fake. However, Dr. Pulitzer was convinced of the authenticity of his painting. He used microphotography to confirm that the fingerprints on the London painting were the same as those on other Leonardo da Vinci works; according to records, the Mona Lisa was 19 years younger than La Giocondo and was painted wearing a The Veil of Mourning, of the two paintings, only the London one shows a younger woman wearing a beautiful veil; another evidence is that Raphael made a sketch when Leonardo da Vinci painted this painting , there are two columns behind the Mona Lisa in the sketch. These two columns appear in the London portrait, while the background of the Louvre painting is cliffs, paths, stone bridges, trees and gurgling water. Over the centuries, many collectors have claimed to have as many as 60 real Mona Lisas in their collections. What’s even more interesting is that the Bertrand Museum of Art in Maine, USA, received a painting called “Mona Lisa without Smiling” in 1984. It was determined that this painting was indeed painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The characters in the painting Except she doesn't smile, she looks exactly like Mona Lisa herself. Experts speculate that this "Mona Lisa without Smiling" may be a draft painted by the author at the same time. There is also a theory that the "Mona Lisa" currently in the Louvre Museum is a fake, based on the theft that occurred in 1911. During that theft, the Mona Lisa was stolen. Two years later, it appeared in Italy, but the columns on both sides of the screen behind the Mona Lisa had been cut away. A few years later, the Mona Lisa was returned to the Louvre. However, many experts believe that this recovery is just a smoke screen. The real "Mona Lisa" has been purchased by a wealthy collector for a large sum of money, and the one hanging in the Louvre is just a fake.

The Mystery of Value

"Mona Lisa" has been hailed as the most valuable portrait for hundreds of years. In the 1960s, it was estimated that the painting was worth US$100 million.

With the permission of the government, it was exhibited in Washington and New York City in the United States from December 14, 1962 to March 12, 1963. It caused a sensation throughout the United States, and many people came from other places to have a look. Due to the large number of visitors, it is said that the exhibition stipulated that each visitor could only stay in front of the "Mona Lisa" portrait for 3 seconds. Later, the painting was borrowed for exhibition in Japan, and the sensation was even greater than in the United States. It is said that each audience member can only view it for 2 seconds.

The mystery of the background

Carlo Pedretti, a professor at the University of California, believes that the background behind the Mona Lisa is near the Brianno Bridge in Arezzo, central Italy. view. Pedretti's evidence is that Leonardo da Vinci was born in the town of Vinci, about 100 kilometers away from Arezzo, and once lived in Arezzo. The primitive landscape of this area is the same as the background of the "Mona Lisa" Almost exactly the same, it is possible that Leonardo da Vinci used the pastoral scenery of this area as the background for the Mona Lisa. When Pedretti's view was announced at the International Symposium on Leonardo da Vinci's Painting, many art history experts affirmed his research results. The British "Guardian" website reported on January 9, 2011: Italian art historian Carla Glori said that the background bridge and a road above the Mona Lisa's shoulder in the painting belong to the northern Italian town of Bobbio. Previously, it was generally believed that the background in "Mona Lisa" was fictional. Glory said digital codes recently discovered on the paintings support her theory. Glory claims she will publish her new findings this year. She said: "The winding road in the painting can be found in the small town of Bobbio in northern Italy, as can the arched bridge. Leonardo da Vinci could see the bridge through the window of the town's castle." Lowry came to this conclusion while researching the true identity of the characters in the Mona Lisa painting. She believes that the woman in the painting may be Bianca Giovanna Sforza, the daughter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan in the 15th century. A widely circulated theory is that the real name of the woman in the painting is Lisa Giocondo, and she is the wife of a businessman in Florence, Italy. Glory said: "Bobbio was under the rule of Ludovico at the time, and the library there was very famous. Like many other artists and scientists, Leonardo da Vinci may have been there." Bobbio in the Middle Ages was known as Famous for its monastery, the bridge in the background of the "Mona Lisa" painting sits on the Trebbia River, which was once called the most beautiful place in the world by the American writer Hemingway. Last year some Italian researchers claimed that the number "72" was written on the arch of the bridge in the background of the Mona Lisa. Glory believes that this number represents 1472, because the bridge was destroyed by floods in 1472 and later rebuilt. But some people object to this statement. Italian researcher Silvano Vinceti believes that this number means something else. He said: "There is no Dan Brown code here, it is just to convey some information and express his thoughts. The numbers 7 and 2 have very important significance in Kabbalists." Winchetti's team is also studying other possible candidates for David Brown. Finch model woman. But he said: "We believe that Bianca Giovanna Sforza is unlikely to be the woman in the painting because she died when she was 15 years old, and the woman in the painting is at least 22 years old." Glori said that in In the years leading up to the completion of the painting, Leonardo may have deliberately painted Sforza's face to be more mature in order to conceal the true identity of the woman in the painting after the fall of her father. [2]

The mystery of the prototype

Historians have been arguing about the prototype of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "Mona Lisa" for more than 500 years. In particular, the mysterious smile on the face of the painting is a mystery that people speculate about. Recently, Giuseppe Palanti, an ordinary teacher in Florence, Italy, put forward a new theory that Mona Lisa was a "housewife" with five children. According to the British "Daily Telegraph" report on the 1st, Palanti conducted a 25-year study of Florence city archives and came to a conclusion: the prototype of the "Mona Lisa" was a friend of Leonardo da Vinci's father. His wife, Lisa Gradini, is a housewife with five children. According to Palanti's research, Lisa married the Florentine silk merchant Francesco Giocondu in 1495 when she was 16 years old. Giocondu was a good friend and neighbor of Leonardo da Vinci's father Piero. Lisa was Gio Condu's second wife. The couple had a good relationship and had five children. In his will, Giocondo described Lisa as his "beloved" and "faithful" wife. Palanti believes that the portrait of "Mona Lisa" was completed when Lisa was 24 years old. Leonardo da Vinci's father arranged everything and paid his own money for his son to paint this painting for his friend's wife. At the time, Leonardo da Vinci was troubled by a financial dispute. His father probably wanted to help his son in this way. Among the legends about the prototype of the Mona Lisa, some say that the person in the painting is a famous prostitute in Florence at that time, while others say that the person in the painting is a female self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci himself. Last year, an American professor named Shavon Newland claimed that he had discovered the real secret behind the Mona Lisa's smile. The reason why "Mona Lisa" always has a smile on her face is because the owner of the painting happened to be pregnant when she was a model for Leonardo da Vinci. It is the kind of feeling that a mother has when a new life is about to be born. Mysterious smile. Currently, Palanti is taking advantage of the summer vacation to compile his research results into a book, which he plans to officially publish in August.

The original painting of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is in the Louvre Museum in Paris. But over the centuries, collectors claim to have more than 60 Mona Lisa paintings in their collections.

The mystery of the disappearance

The exhibition will be interrupted due to the relocation of the exhibition hall. For the first time in 30 years, the "Mona Lisa" will "disappear" in the Louvre exhibition hall. Zhong silently smiled at the audience. On April 4, 2001, she finally had a day off. On April 4, visitors will not see the charming smile of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. According to a statement from the Louvre, the "Mona Lisa" will move to the exhibition hall on that day and take a "day off". This will be the first time in 30 years that this famous painting will be suspended from exhibition at the Louvre. The Louvre said in a statement that after four years, the "Mona Lisa" will be moved to the renovated old exhibition hall on April 4. In 2000, because the old exhibition hall was old and had problems with preservation conditions and safety measures, the Louvre moved the "Mona Lisa" to its current temporary exhibition hall. According to the museum’s explanation, a one-day interruption to the exhibition will be inevitable because on that day engineers need to install lighting facilities and special reflective glass on the relocated Mona Lisa, as well as set up a more reasonable visiting path. In order to avoid the disappointment of the large number of tourists who come here to visit, the Louvre has notified nearly 6,000 travel agencies around the world and also explained it in 10 languages ??on its homepage. Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "Mona Lisa" is the most famous work of art in the Louvre. According to statistics, 90% of visitors to the Louvre will not miss this "smile". The museum's souvenir shop sells more than 330,000 pieces of Mona Lisa memorabilia each year, including postcards, magnets and puzzles. Since the Louvre was founded in 1789 and the "Mona Lisa" moved in, except for a few unexpected incidents, the museum has avoided interrupting the exhibition of this painting. According to a staff member of the museum, "Rembrandt, Titian and Greco could be put away for weeks, but not the Mona Lisa.” Even the guardian of this famous painting could only approach the painting to conduct research when the Louvre was closed. The X-ray study of the painting was carried out in the middle of the night. The last time the Mona Lisa disappeared from the view of visitors to the Louvre was in 1974, when she traveled across the ocean to Japan for an exhibition tour. According to expert estimates, such a touring exhibition will be unlikely to happen again in the future, and the upgraded exhibition hall has enough capacity to handle the flow of visitors of 1,500 people per hour. Therefore, April 4, 2001 will be the "Mona Lisa" in many years. The only vacation.

The mystery of the cause of death

According to records, Lisa di Gherardini (the character in the painting) died of depression at the age of 46, but a Japanese cardiologist said He discovered that Mona Lisa had a yellow spot on her left eye, which was a sign of high cholesterol. This Japanese cardiologist said Mona Lisa should have died of myocardial infarction. Some people say that she died of depression because she fell in love with Leonardo da Vinci.