Decoding The Mystery Of Mona Lisa I Blog By Sakshi, 15, Thane
Sakshi, a 15-year-old from Thane, describes the painting of Mona Lisa with all of its interesting information and the different opinions about the painting and its lasting impression.
Leonardo Da Vinci was an Italian painter, sculptor, engineer and architect. A few of his most fascinating and jaw-dropping works included paintings like ‘Saint Jerome in the wilderness’, ‘Head of Christ’, ‘The last supper’, etc. Amongst all these creations, one of the most beguiling and amazing works created by Leonardo Da Vinci in the 16th century was the portrait of ‘Mona Lisa’. This intricate and sheer piece of art is said to have been completed in 1506, and in the contemporary world, it is unquestionably one of the most renowned and costly painting with a value of 834 million dollars.
HOW DOES THE PAINTING look?
Mona Lisa is an oil painting on a poplar wood panel. The mysterious feature in the painting is the woman’s elusive and unexplainable smile. Leonardo has also done extensive shadow art known as ‘Sfumato’ or ‘Leonardo’s smoke art’, which makes her smile look noticeable and bewitching.
Will Rogers once said, “Mona Lisa is the only beauty who went through history and yet retained her reputation.”. This painting went under the Paris auction and is currently in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
WHO WAS THE REAL MONA LISA?
People have been curious and have formulated various theories on who was the real Mona Lisa and whom the painting belonged to. Experts say that the painting was of Isabella d’Esta, the duchess of Francaline. Others, after observing the facial features, comment that it is the face of a man, who can either be Leonardo Da Vinci himself or his assistant Giacomo Caprotti. It is also suggested that since Leonardo worked on it for many years, the painting has turned into an abstract feminine figure. One of the universally accepted facts states that it is the painting of Gheradith del Gioconda, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant.
WHY DO PEOPLE ADMIRE THE PAINTING?
Mona Lisa is wearing a very simple, unadorned, and unornamented garment, with highly detailed eyes and hands. According to the documentation of Antonio De Beatis, when Mona Lisa’s portrait was first being created, she was 24 years old. In the portrait, the woman sits in a body angled away from the viewers and her face is turned forward, this elegant style is greatly admired by all its viewers.
Using high magnification techniques, Silvano Vinceti claimed that her right eye contains the letters ‘L’ and ‘V’, which represent the artist’s impression. However, the Louvre Museum rejected his claim and said that it appears so because of the cracks in the painting.
WHY IS THE BACKDROP OF THE PAINTING BROKEN?
In 2004, it was brought to the viewer’s notice that Mona Lisa would appear taller and more erect when seen from the left. Even the landscape looked higher when seen from the right, this made it difficult for people to imagine how the landscape could be joined together. Franscenda claimed that the broken bridge in the landscape is the Bobbio bridge which was washed away in a flood of 1467. However, the mystery of the backdrop is yet unsolved and unexplained.
WHAT IS PECULIAR ABOUT HER SMILE?
In the year 2001, Harvard university suggested that Mona Lisa’s smile looked elusive because of human neurological conditions. When looking at her smile the shadow work makes it look more broader, while when looked straight at it, the smile looks diminished. Poets have described Mona Lisa’s smile to be as beautiful and as pleasurable as heaven gives to a person.
HOW IS THE PAINTING PROTECTED?
The painting had been sold to King Francois, later Napoleon Bonaparte put it on his bedroom wall and in 1804, it was put up in the Louver museum. On August 21, 1911, the painting was stolen from the walls of the museum, by Leonardo Vinceti. This robbery made the painting even more famous. Today the Mona Lisa is protected by a ‘State of the art’ security system and is constantly checked by the museum staff. It is protected behind a thick layer of glass which is bullet proof and will protect it from vandalism. This was done after a visitor poured acid over the painting.
CONCLUSION
Mona Lisa being one of the most celebrated and extravagant painting of Leonardo Da Vinci is yet a mystery which is under several debates since many years. The intricate details and shadow art are jaw dropping with hidden and unrevealed mystery and secrets of a great artist from the Italian renaissance era.
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– Sakshi Singh
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Photo Credit – Copyright Free, Royalty Free images from Pexels
