The story of Mona Lisa

The 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.

"Mona Lisa" - naming

Mona Lisa is transliterated from the English "Mona Lisa". The name comes from a biography published by Giorgio Vasari 31 years after Leonardo da Vinci's death - "Biographies of Celebrities in the Art Garden". In it, Giorgio Vasari believed that the model was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy Florentine businessman. Mona translates to "my lady" in Italian and is usually placed before a woman's name, equivalent to "Madam" in English. So, Mona Lisa means "Lady Lisa".

Another name for this painting is "La Gioconda" in Italian, which is the feminine spelling of Giocondo. In Italian, the meaning of "gioconda" is "relaxed, carefree", so "gioconda" can also refer to "carefree woman". Because of her smile, the name has two meanings. The French name "La Joconde" can be explained in the same way.

Since the 19th century, "Mona Lisa" and the Italian name "Giocondo" have become the fixed names of this painting. For a long time, this painting had many descriptive names, such as "A certain Florentine lady", "Mistress with veil", etc.

"Mona Lisa" - History

An early version of the "Mona Lisa" (Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore) appeared with two columns. Leonardo da Vinci in 1502 (Italian Literature and Art) Renaissance period) began painting the Mona Lisa, and according to Vasari, the painting took 4 years to complete.

In 1516, King Francois I of France invited Leonardo da Vinci to work at a place called Clos Lucé near the King's Castle Chateau d\Amboise. The painting was brought to France from Italy, where the king bought it for 4,000 crowns and kept it in the Palace of Fontainebleau until the time of Louis XIV.

For a long time, it was believed that the painting had been cropped after Leonardo's death, with portions cut off on both sides of the painting. In early versions of the Mona Lisa, there were two columns on either side of the painting, which only appear in the original manuscript.

"Mona Lisa" - Aesthetics

The Mona Lisa is the earliest half-length portrait in Italy. The figure in the painting is sitting and resting her folded hands on the seat. On the armrest, a complete half-body figure is shown from the head to the waist. This is a change from the early portraits that only showed the head and upper body, and the composition was cut off at the chest. It established a new basic structure of portraits for future painters and photographers.

Da Vinci used a pyramid structure to place the lady in the painting simply and fully. Her folded hands form the front corners of the pyramid. Her chest, neck and face glow with the same soft glow as her hands. The changes in the light of these organic parts reveal the fullness and suppleness of the flesh, including the aforementioned smile. Sigmund Freud interpreted this smile as the painter's nostalgia for his mother's sensuality. Others describe it as innocent, seductive or even trance-like or sad. It should be noted that most of Leonardo da Vinci's portraits from the time included this smile.

In addition to being famous for her smile, the mysterious Mona Lisa also has a unique look in her eyes. No matter which angle you look at the painting from, you will find that Mona Lisa’s eyes are looking directly at you. This makes people feel that Mona Lisa’s eyes are alive and will follow the viewer’s perspective and reflect on all viewers. With an eternal smile.

Some scholars have tried to discuss why different people feel different about this smile. Some of these theories are scientific, while others are based on the actual person and feeling of the Mona Lisa.

Some people say that Mona Lisa’s smile can only be seen when you squint. Others think the smile is so elusive because it exploits disturbances in human vision. The person who came up with the theory that Mona Lisa was the Duchess of Milan said that Mona Lisa's smile was so sad because the Duchess herself had a sad life because her husband was so powerful, an alcoholic, and often beat her. This is because the Duchess herself once said that she is the "unhappiest wife" in the world.

Although the technique of this portrait is simple, the harmony between the figure and the background makes this painting one of the most famous and meticulously analyzed in history. The curves of the woman's hair and clothes complement the curves of the valley and river in the background.

The harmony of the whole painting