Leonardo da Vinci - The Mona Lisa
Posted by: Steve | April 16th, 2008 | No comments
“The Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci. Painted c.1503-6. Oil paint on wood. Size: 30×20″ (77×53cm). In the collection of the Louvre in Paris.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, in the Louvre in Paris, is arguably the most famous painting in the world. It is probably also the best known example of sfumato, a painting technique partly responsible for her enigmatic smile.
You’ll have to elbow your way through the crowds to see it “in the flesh” rather than as a reproduction. Is it worthwhile? I’d have to say “probably” rather than “definitely”. I was disappointed the first time I saw it as I’d never truly realized just how small a painting it was because I’m used to seeing it poster-sized.
But that said, could you really visit the Louvre and not go to see it at least once? Just patiently work your way towards the front of the admiring horde, then take your time looking at the way the colors have been used. Simply because it’s such a familiar painting, doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile spending time with it.
There’s been a lot of speculation about who the woman in the painting was, but it’s not known for definite. It’s thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant called Francesco del Giocondo. (The 16th-century art writer Vasari was among the first to suggest this, in his Lives of the Artists.)
