Mona Lisa - A Painting With Secrets

Mona Lisa

painting by Leonardo da Vinci

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The Mona Lisa is a half length portrait painted by Leonardo da vinci. Considered an archetype masterpiece created during the Italian Renaissance period. The Painting is a portrait of woman believed to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of wealthy merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo. The Mona Lisa has fascinated art enthusiasts, historians, and scholars for century with its enigmatic smile and fascinating history.

The "Mona Lisa" painting was created during italian renaissance period, that saw an explosion of cultural activity in Italy. It was believed to have painted between 1503 to 1506; however Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. The Paintings novel qualities include the subject's enigmatic expression, monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism. 

The composition of the "Mona Lisa" painting is fascinating. It is a portrait of a woman who sits in front of a landscape that is both realistic and fantastical. The woman's eyes have a depth and mystery that has captivated viewers for centuries, and her famous smile has been the subject of much discussion among scholars and art historians. The "Mona Lisa" painting is also notable for its innovative use of Sfumato (use of fine shading), a Renaissance technique that involves the blending of colors, tones, and textures to create visual depth and softness.

Speculations

There has been much speculation and debate regarding the identity of the portrait's sitter. Scholars and Historians have posited numerous interpretations, including that she is Lisa del Giocondo ( Gherardini), the wife of the wealthy merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo, hence the alternative title of the work, La Giocondo. That identity was first suggested by Giorgio Vasari a artist biographer in 1550.

Another theory was that the model may have been Leonardo's mother, Caterina. That interpretation was put forth by, among others, Sigmund Freud, who seemed to think that the Mona Lisa's mysterious smile emerged from a unconscious-memory of Caterina's smile. 

A third suggestion was that the painting was, in fact, Leonardo's self portrait, given the resemblance between the sitter's and the artist's facial features. Some scholars suggested that disguising himself as a woman was the artist's riddle. The sitter's identity has not been definitively proven. Numerous attempts in the 21st century to settle the debate by seeking Lisa del Giocondo's remains to test her DNA and recreate an image of her face were inconclusive.

Ownership 

 Leonardo never gave the painting to the Giocondo family, and it is believed he later left it in his will to his favored apprentice Salai. It is when Leonardo spent last year of his life in court of King Francis I and died in his studio in 1519.

The history of "Mona Lisa" painting is just as fascinating as the painting itself. For centuries, the painting was owned by various individuals before it eventually ended up in the collection of the French King Francis I in 16th century. 

The acquired work after the artist's death, and it became part of the Royal Collection. For centuries the portrait was secluded in French Palaces, untill insurgents claimed the royal collection as the property of the people during the French Revolution (1787-99). Following a period hanging in Napoleon's Bedroom. The Mona Lisa was installed in the Louvre Museum at the turn of the 19th century.

Theft And Later

The painting's global fame and popularity stem, when it was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia, who attributed his actions to Italian patriotism-a belief it should belong to Italy. The theft subsequently recovered in 1914 and returned to Louvre, where it became even more famous and celebrated than before. The story of the theft and recovery of the "Mona Lisa" painting has captured the public's imagination, and it has been the subject of many books, movies, and television shows. 

The Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known painting insurance valuation in history at US Dollar 100 Million in 1962, equivalent to US Dollar 1 Billion as of 2023. 

During The WORLD WAR II the Mona Lisa, singled out as the most-endangered artwork in the Louvre, was evacuated to various locations in France's countryside, returning to museum in 1945 after peace had been declared. 

On 30 December 1956, Bolivian Ugo Ungaza Villegas threw a rock at the Mona Lisa while it was on display at the Louvre. He did so with such force that it shattered the glass case and dislodged a speck of pigment near the left elbow. The painting was protected by glass because a few years earlier a man who claimed to be in love with the painting had cut it with a razor blade and tried to steal it. 

Since then, bulletproof glass has been used to shield the painting from any further attacks. Subsequently, on 21 April 1974, while the painting was on display at the Tokyo National Museum, a woman sprayed it with red paint as a protest against that museum's failure to provide access for disabled people. On 2 August 2009, a Russian woman, distraught over being denied French citizenship, threw a ceramic teacup purchased at the Louvre; the vessel shattered against the glass enclosure. In both cases, the painting was undamaged.

          Mona Lisa painting in Prado museum 

Other Mona Lisas

At least a dozen excellent replicas of the Mona Lisa exist, many of them by Leonardo’s students. One such copy at the Prado Museum in Madrid was thought to have been painted years after the original. However, during restoration of the painting in the early 2010s, which included using infrared reflexology to examine the work beneath the surface, conservators discovered that the painting had changes that mirrored those of the original. The findings suggested that the artist—likely one of the master’s assistants—painted the copy as Leonardo worked on the Mona Lisa in his studio. Thus, the Prado version became the only known copy completed during Leonardo’s lifetime. Conservators cleaned the entire painting and removed its black background, revealing a detailed landscape resembling Leonardo’s version and vibrant colours, possibly evoking those of the original before the varnish applied by early restorers darkened over time.

Other copies of the Mona Lisa include the so-called Isleworth Mona Lisa, which some commentators asserted was Leonardo’s first version of the famed portrait. The claim was a controversial one, with several leading Leonardo scholars flatly denying it. Numerous seminude interpretations, often referred to as Monna Vanna, also exist and were likely completed by Leonardo’s students with occasional input from their master. The proliferation of Mona Lisas reflects, at least in part, the subject’s almost immediate embodiment of the ideal woman—beautiful, enigmatic, receptive, and still just out of reach.

In conclusion, the Mona Lisa painting is a masterpiece that has fascinated and captivated individuals for centuries. The painting's enigmatic smile, innovative composition, and rich history have made it one of the most iconic and recognizable works of art in the world. Although the identity of the woman depicted in the painting remains shrouded in mystery, the Mona Lisa painting is a testament to the genius of Leonardo da Vinci and a symbol of the creativity and innovation that defined the Italian Renaissance.  

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