Lisa del Giocondo: biography, interesting facts. Painting "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci. All the secrets of the Gioconda The second name of the painting is Mona Lisa
Incredible Facts
Mona Lisa, perhaps most popular work of fine art in the world. Painted by the most famous artist, Leonardo da Vinci, this painting has been a subject of interest for many. The Mona Lisa was source of discussion for many centuries.
The mysterious expression on the woman's face in the picture still is an unsolved problem. The novel by writer Dan Brown "The Da Vinci Code" revived people's interest in the famous painting. Everyone, in anticipation of the solution, gathered in their homes in order to quickly unravel the hidden codes described in the novel.
Besides the novel, painting is famous for many other reasons. Firstly, she is very famous because of the popularity of Leonardo da Vinci and because of his work on human anatomy. Secondly, the picture is famous for its unusual methods, used by the artist and, most importantly, the "Mona Lisa" is notorious for thefts from the museum.
Most of you may have heard of these known facts. But we will reveal lesser known and most interesting facts about this mysterious work.
Name of the painting "Mona Lisa"
The title of the painting was "Mona Lisa". the result of an error spelling. Mona in Italian means a short form of "Madonna", which means "milady".
The woman in the painting
The identity of the woman in the painting is still a riddle. Some believe that this is the female form of the face of Leonardo da Vinci. Most are of the opinion that the woman was Lisa Gherardini, who was a 24-year-old mother of two sons.
Painting damage
This painting is damaged. In 1956, a man named Hugo Ungaza threw a stone into a work of art. This resulted in damage to the paint in a small area near Mona's left elbow.
painting insurance
The painting is considered priceless and therefore cannot be insured.
Without eyebrows
Another interesting fact about the painting is that the woman in the painting has no eyebrows. Rumor has it that this is because when the authorities were trying to restore the painting, the eyebrows were accidentally removed.
Mona Lisa. Who is she? - article
Mona Lisa. Who is she?
The Mona Lisa (also known as the Mona Lisa) is a portrait of a young woman painted by the Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci around 1503. The painting is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Refers to the Renaissance. Exhibited in the Louvre (Paris, France).
Story
In no other painting by Leonardo is the depth and haze of the atmosphere conveyed with such perfection as in Mona Lisa. This is an aerial perspective, probably the best in execution. "Mona Lisa" received worldwide fame, not only because of the quality of Leonardo's work, which impresses both art lovers and professionals. The painting has been studied by historians and copied by painters, but it would have long remained known only to connoisseurs of art, if not for its exceptional history. In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen and only three years later, thanks to a coincidence, was returned to the museum. During this time, "Mona Lisa" did not leave the covers of newspapers and magazines around the world. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Mona Lisa was copied more often than all other paintings. Since then, the painting has become an object of cult and worship, as a masterpiece of world classics.
Model Mystery
The person depicted in the portrait is difficult to identify. Until today, many controversial and sometimes absurd opinions have been expressed on this subject:
- The wife of the Florentine merchant del Giocondo
- Isabella of Este
- Just the perfect woman
- A young boy in a woman's attire
- Self-portrait of Leonardo
The mystery that surrounds the stranger to this day attracts millions of visitors to the Louvre every year.
In 1517, Cardinal Louis of Aragon visited Leonardo at his atelier in France. The description of this visit was made by the secretary of Cardinal Antonio de Beatis: “On October 10, 1517, the monsignor and his ilk visited in one of the remote parts of Amboise visited sir Leonardo da Vinci, a Florentine, a gray-bearded old man who is over seventy years old, the most excellent artist of our time . He showed His Excellency three paintings: one depicting a Florentine lady, painted from nature at the request of Brother Lorenzo the Magnificent Giuliano de' Medici, another depicting St. John the Baptist in his youth, and the third depicting St. Anne with Mary and the Christ Child; all are supremely beautiful. From the master himself, due to the fact that at that time his right hand was paralyzed, it was no longer possible to expect new good works.
According to some researchers, "a certain Florentine lady" means "Mona Lisa". It is possible, however, that this was a different portrait, from which neither evidence nor copies have been preserved, as a result of which Giuliano Medici could not have had anything to do with Mona Lisa.
According to Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), author of biographies of Italian artists, Mona Lisa (short for Madonna Lisa) was the wife of a Florentine named Francesco del Giocondo (Italian Francesco del Giocondo), whose portrait Leonardo spent four years, still leaving its unfinished.
Vasari expresses a very laudatory opinion about the quality of this picture: “Any person who wants to see how well art can imitate nature can easily be convinced of this by the example of the head, because here Leonardo reproduced all the details ... The eyes are filled with brilliance and moisture, like living people ... Delicate pink nose seems real. The red tone of the mouth harmoniously matches the complexion ... Whoever looked closely at her neck, it seemed to everyone that her pulse was beating ... ". He also explains the slight smile on her face: "Leonardo allegedly invited musicians and clowns to entertain a lady bored from a long posing."
This story may be true, but, most likely, Vasari simply added it to Leonardo's biography for the entertainment of readers. Vasari's description also contains an accurate description of the eyebrows missing from the painting. This inaccuracy could arise only if the author described the picture from memory or from the stories of others. The painting was well known among art lovers, although Leonardo left Italy for France in 1516, taking the painting with him. According to Italian sources, it has since been in the collection of the French King Francis I, but it remains unclear when and how he acquired it and why Leonardo did not return it to the customer.
Vasari, who was born in 1511, could not see the Mona Lisa with his own eyes and was forced to refer to information given by the anonymous author of the first biography of Leonardo. It is he who writes about the uninfluential silk merchant Francesco Giocondo, who commissioned a portrait of his third wife, Lisa, from the artist. Despite the words of this anonymous contemporary, many researchers still doubt the possibility that the Mona Lisa was written in Florence (1500-1505). The refined technique indicates a later creation of the painting. In addition, at that time Leonardo was so busy working on the Battle of Anghiari that he even refused Princess Isabella d'Este to accept her order. Could then a simple merchant persuade the famous master to paint a portrait of his wife?
It is also interesting that in his description, Vasari admires Leonardo's talent for conveying physical phenomena, and not the similarity between model and painting. It seems that this physical feature of the masterpiece left a deep impression among the visitors of the artist's studio and reached Vasari almost fifty years later.
Composition
A careful analysis of the composition leads to the conclusion that Leonardo did not seek to create an individual portrait. "Mona Lisa" became the implementation of the ideas of the artist, expressed by him in his treatise on painting. Leonardo's approach to his work has always been scientific. Therefore, the Mona Lisa, which he spent many years creating, became beautiful, but at the same time inaccessible and insensitive way. She seems voluptuous and cold at the same time. Despite the fact that Jaconda's gaze is directed at us, a visual barrier has been created between us and her - a chair handle acting as a partition. Such a concept excludes the possibility of an intimate dialogue, as, for example, in the portrait of Baltasar Castiglione (exhibited in the Louvre, Paris), painted by Raphael about ten years later. However, our gaze constantly returns to her illuminated face, surrounded as a frame by dark, hidden under a transparent veil, hair, shadows on her neck and a dark smoky landscape in the background. Against the backdrop of distant mountains, the figure gives the impression of being monumental, although the size of the picture is small (77x53 cm). This monumentality, inherent in sublime divine beings, keeps us mere mortals at a respectful distance and at the same time makes us unsuccessfully strive for the unattainable. Not without reason, Leonardo chose the position of the model, very similar to the positions of the Mother of God in Italian paintings of the 15th century. Additional distance is created by the artificiality that arises from the flawless sfumato effect (rejection of clear outlines in favor of creating an airy impression). It must be assumed that Leonardo actually completely freed himself from portrait resemblance in favor of creating the illusion of an atmosphere and a living breathing body with the help of a plane, paints and a brush. For us, Gioconda will forever remain Leonardo's masterpiece.
The detective story of the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa would have long been known only to connoisseurs of fine art, if not for her exceptional history, which made her world famous.
From the beginning of the sixteenth century, the painting, acquired by Francis I after the death of Leonardo, remained in the royal collection. Since 1793 it has been placed in the Central Museum of Art in the Louvre. Mona Lisa has always remained in the Louvre as one of the assets of the national collection. On August 21, 1911, the painting was stolen by an employee of the Louvre, the Italian mirror master Vincenzo Perugia (Italian: Vincenzo Peruggia). The purpose of this kidnapping is not clear. Perhaps Perugia wanted to return the Gioconda to its historical homeland. The painting was found only two years later in Italy. Moreover, the thief himself was to blame for this, responding to an ad in a newspaper and offering to sell the Gioconda. In the end, on January 1, 1914, the painting returned to France.
In the twentieth century, the picture almost did not leave the Louvre, visiting the USA in 1963 and Japan in 1974. Trips only consolidated the success and fame of the picture.
According to Wikipedia
We admire the paintings of old masters, but rarely think about how they looked like at the time of creation. For some reason, it is believed that the dark colors are the original look of the paintings. In fact, ALL paintings over 50 years old were completely different. Time destroys the color pigment of many paints. Some disappear, others change.
Therefore, what we see and what the artist wrote, as they say in Odessa: "These are two big differences."
Mona Lisa. Leonardo da Vinci today.
After a year of research, renowned American artist Jenness Cortez has announced the completion of her work to restore Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa to its early 16th-century form.
The restoration was commissioned by a private American collector. In her work, Genes Cortes used a copy of the Mona Lisa, owned by the Prado Museum, and data from the French Restoration Research Center, published in 2004. In addition, the artist independently analyzed a large amount of historical data about the painting and its copies made by contemporaries of Leonardo da Vinci.
According to Giorgio Vasari (1511 - 1574 ), author of biographies of Italian artists, who wrote about Leonardo in 1550, 31 years after his death, Mona Lisa (short for madonna lisa) was the wife of a Florentine named Francesco del Giocondo ( ital. Francesco del Giocondo), whose portrait Leonardo spent 4 years, yet left it unfinished.
Genes Cortes - Mona Lisa (copy of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci)
Having completed the work, Genes Cortes noted that she does not claim to have a complete similarity of her work with the original of the 16th century: “I do not pretend to be equal in skill with Leonardo. But I put all my experience, intuition, imagination and passion into my work. I would like to think that the same muse helped me as the great Leonardo. I hope my Mona Lisa will be accepted by fans of the original painting.”
According to well-known researchers and restorers, the numerous visible changes in the Mona Lisa that have occurred over five centuries are due to the following factors:
Darkening and yellowing of the varnish.
Complete disappearance of some pigments.
Natural chemical reactions that have altered the original shades.
Consequences of purges and reconstructions.
Changes in the wood panel on which the painting is written, under the influence of humidity.
To understand these and other factors, Genes Cortes relied on the results of laboratory studies by French restorers. The generalization of historical, scientific material and the artist's own experience led to the following conclusions:
1. Many parts of the painting were lighter and more detailed, but changing the color of the varnish also changed the color of the canvas, hiding some details of the picture. The blue, brown and green colors suffered the most and were given the main attention during the restoration.
2. Other pigments have undergone a slight change in color. To understand how they have changed, a special analysis was carried out.
3. The surface of the painting has many cracks, which were formed primarily as a result of a large number of movements, as well as under the influence of moisture on the wooden base.
4. Some details are destroyed due to intensive cleaning of the surface of the painting during the reconstruction. For example, in the shadow area between the bridge of the nose and the right eye, as well as on the chin, finer detail was lost. There are inexplicable traces of white paint above the top edge of the corsage, which convinced Cortes that the original original had a delicate white trim on the bodice, especially since this detail is quite noticeable on the Italian copy of the painting. Note that the version of the Mona Lisa, owned by the Prado Museum, was made by an unknown artist, a contemporary of Leonardo and, very likely, quite accurately conveys the original.
5. On the copy from the Prado Museum, glare in the eyes is also noticeable, although they are not traced on the original. However, Giorgio Vasari, who made the earliest known description of the Mona Lisa, in his book Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, dated 1550, noted that the look of the woman in the painting had a "watery sheen". Cortes returned the sparkle in the eyes of Mona Lisa.
6. Today, the painting has a rather monotonous appearance, most likely due to the fact that Leonardo made extensive use of volatile, organic pigments in thin glazes. The analysis showed brighter modeling of the face and hands, and the same Vasari describes both “iridescent and tender” nostrils, and “red lips”, and brighter skin tones that accurately convey the color of the flesh. Indeed, some red pigments made from the bodies and secretions of insects were widely used during the Renaissance, but often lost color over time.
7. The sleeves of the dress, which now have a bronze color, may have been red (as can be seen on a copy from the Prado Museum).
8. Mona Lisa's legendary enigmatic expression is greatly aided by her lack of eyebrows. Genes Cortez slightly raised her eyebrows, because it is known that they were, albeit very thin ones. Vasari was also impressed by their subtlety, which he noted in his book. Cortes treated this part of the picture very delicately, not speculating on the arch, size and color of the eyebrows, feeling that any misunderstanding on her part would unconditionally change the woman’s facial expression, which is familiar to us, and therefore would distort Leonardo’s intention.
9. Lisa's hair, which today seems almost black, was probably a warm chestnut shade, but blackened over time under the varnish that changed its color.
10. On the entire area of the picture, fine details have been added, which are now hidden under the old varnish, but traces of which are noticeable when
Leonardo da Vinci "La Gioconda":
History of the painting
On August 22, 1911, the world-famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci "La Gioconda" disappeared from the Square Hall of the Louvre. At 1 pm, when the museum was opened to visitors, she was not there. Confusion broke out among the Louvre workers. It was announced to visitors that the museum was closed for the whole day due to a water main failure.
The prefect of police appeared with a detachment of inspectors. All exits from the Louvre were closed, the museum began to be searched. But it is impossible to check the ancient palace of the French kings with an area of 198 square meters in one day. However, by the end of the day, the police still managed to find a glazed case and a frame from the Mona Lisa on the landing of a small service staircase. The very same picture - a rectangle measuring 54x79 centimeters - disappeared without a trace.
“The loss of the Gioconda is a national disaster,” wrote the French magazine “Illustration”, “since it is almost certain that the one who committed this abduction cannot profit from it. One must fear that he, in fear of being caught, may destroy this fragile work.
The magazine announced a reward: “40,000 francs to the one who brings the Gioconda to the editorial office of the magazine. 20,000 francs to whoever points out where the painting can be found. 45,000 to those who return the Mona Lisa by September 1." The first of September passed, but there was no picture. Then Illustrasion published a new proposal: “The editors guarantee complete secrecy to those who bring the Mona Lisa. They will give him 45,000 in cash and they won't even ask for his name." But no one came.
Month after month passed. All this time, the portrait of the beautiful Florentine lay hidden in a pile of rubbish on the third floor of the large Parisian house "Cité du Heroes", in which Italian seasonal workers lived.
A few more months passed, a year, two...
One day, the Italian antiquarian Alfredo Geri received a letter from Paris. On poor school paper, in clumsy letters, a certain Vincenzo Leopardi offered an antiquary to buy a portrait of Mona Lisa that disappeared from the Louvre. Leopardi wrote that he wanted to return to his homeland one of the best works of Italian art.
This letter was sent in November 1913.
When, after long negotiations, correspondence and meetings, Leopardi delivered the painting to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, he said:
“This is a good, holy thing! The Louvre is chock-full of treasures that rightfully belong to Italy. I wouldn't be Italian if I looked at it with indifference!"
Fortunately, the two years and three months that the Mona Lisa spent in captivity did not affect the picture. Under the protection of the police, the Gioconda was exhibited in Rome, Florence, Milan, and then, after the farewell ceremony, left for Paris.
The investigation into the case of Perugia (this is the real name of the kidnapper) went on for several months. The arrested man did not hide anything and said that he periodically worked at the Louvre as a glazier. During this time, he studied the halls of the art gallery and met many museum employees. He frankly stated that he had long ago decided to steal the Mona Lisa.
Perugia knew little about the history of painting. He sincerely and naively believed that the Mona Lisa was taken away from Italy during the time of Napoleon.
Meanwhile, Leonardo da Vinci himself brought it to France and sold it to the French king Francis I for 4,000 ecu - a huge amount at that time. For a long time this painting adorned the Golden Cabinet of the royal castle in Fontainebleau, under Louis XIV it was transferred to Versailles, and after the revolution it was transferred to the Louvre.
After a 20-year stay in Milan, Leonardo da Vinci returned to Florence. How everything has changed in his hometown! Those he left behind were already at the height of their fame; and about him, who once enjoyed universal worship, has almost been forgotten. His old friends, captured by a whirlwind of unrest and unrest, have changed a lot ... One of them became a monk; another, in despair at the death of the violent Savonarola, gave up painting and decided to spend the rest of his days in the Santa Maria Novella hospital; the third, aged in spirit and body, could no longer be Leonardo's former comrade.
Only one P. Perugino, already experienced in worldly affairs, talked with Leonardo in the old way and gave him useful advice. His words were true, and Leonardo da Vinci also really needed these tips. In the service of the duke, he did not earn money for a comfortable life and returned to Florence with meager means. Leonardo did not even think about large and serious works, and no one ordered them from him. To write at his own risk for the love of art, he had neither the money nor the time. The entire Florentine nobility strove for mediocre masters, and the brilliant da Vinci was in poverty, content with the crumbs that fell to him from the orders of his happy brothers.
But in Florence, Leonardo da Vinci created his masterpiece of masterpieces - the famous painting "La Gioconda".
The Soviet art critic I. Dolgopolov noted that writing about this painting “is simply scary, because poets, prose writers, and art critics have written more than one hundred books about it. Do not count the publications in which every inch of this picture is studied in the most thorough way. And although the history of its creation is quite well-known, the name of the painting, the date of its writing, and even the city in which the great Leonardo met his model are questioned.”
George Vasari in his "Biographies" reports about this picture: "Leonardo undertook to complete for Francesco del Giocondo a portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife."
As some researchers now suggest, Vasari must have been wrong. The latest research shows that the painting depicts not the wife of the Florentine nobleman del Giocondo, but some other high-ranking lady. M.A. Gukovsky, for example, wrote several decades ago that this portrait conveys the features of one of the many ladies of the heart of Giulio Medici and was commissioned by him. This is unequivocally reported by Antonio de Beatis, who saw the portrait in the workshop of Leonardo in France.
In his diary dated October 10, 1517, he reports: “In one of the suburbs, the cardinal went with us sinners to see Mr. Luonardo Vinci, a Florentine ... an excellent painter of our time. The latter showed his lordship three paintings - one of some Florentine lady, painted from nature, at the request of the late Magnificent Giulio Medici.
Many researchers were amazed why the merchant del Giocondo did not keep a portrait of his wife. Indeed, the portrait became the property of the artist. And this fact is also perceived by some as an argument in favor of the fact that Leonardo did not depict the Mona Lisa. But, perhaps, the Florentine was a little surprised and surprised? Maybe he simply did not recognize his young wife Mona Lisa Gherardini in the depicted goddess? And Leonardo himself, who painted the portrait for four years and invested so much in it, could not part with it and took the picture from Florence?
Be that as it may, in fact, thanks to D. Vasari, this female image entered the history of world culture under the name of "Mona Lisa", or "Gioconda". Was she beautiful? Probably, but there were many women in Florence and more beautiful than her.
However, Mona Lisa was surprisingly attractive, although the features of her face were not harmonious. A small smiling mouth, soft hair flowing over her shoulders...
“But her fully developed figure,” writes M. Alpatov, “was perfect, and her well-groomed hands were especially perfect. But what was remarkable about her, despite her wealth, her eyebrows plucked in fashion, her blush and a lot of jewelry on her arms and neck, was the simplicity and naturalness poured into her whole appearance ...
And then her face lit up with a smile and became unusually attractive for the artist - embarrassed and a little sly, as if the lost playfulness of youth and something hidden in the depths of the soul, unsolved, had returned to him.
Whatever tricks Leonardo resorted to, if only his model did not get bored during the sessions. In a beautifully decorated room, among flowers and luxurious furniture, musicians were placed, delighting the ear with singing and music, and a beautiful, refined artist lay in wait for a wondrous smile on Mona Lisa's face.
He invited jesters and clowns, but the music did not quite satisfy the Mona Lisa. She listened to well-known motives with a bored face, and the magician-juggler did not really revive her. And then Leonardo told her a story.
Once upon a time there was a poor man, and he had four sons; three smart, and one this way and that. - no mind, no stupidity. Yes, however, they could not properly judge his mind: he was more silent and liked to walk in the field, to the sea, listen and think to himself; He also loved to look at the stars at night.
And then death came for the father. Before parting with his life, he called his children to him and said to them:
“My sons, soon I will die. As soon as you bury me, lock up the hut and go to the ends of the world to get your own happiness. Let everyone learn something so that he can feed himself.”
The father died, and the sons, having buried him, went to the ends of the world to seek their happiness and agreed that in three years they would return to the clearing of their native grove, where they went for deadwood, and tell each other who had learned what during these three years.
Three years passed, and, remembering the agreement, the brothers returned from the end of the world to the clearing of their native grove. The first brother came to learn carpentry. Out of boredom, he cut down a tree and hewed it, made a woman out of it. Walk away a bit and wait.
The second brother returned, saw a wooden woman, and since he was a tailor, he decided to dress her and at the same moment, like a skilled craftsman, made her beautiful silk clothes.
The third son came, adorned the wooden girl with gold and precious stones, because he was a jeweler and managed to accumulate great wealth.
And the fourth brother came. He did not know how to carpentry or sewing - he could only listen to what the earth was saying, trees, herbs, animals and birds were saying, he knew the course of the heavenly planets and also knew how to sing wonderful songs. He saw a wooden girl in luxurious clothes, in gold and precious stones. But she was deaf and dumb and did not move. Then he gathered all his art - after all, he learned to talk with everything that is on earth, he learned to revive stones with his song ... And he sang a beautiful song, from which the brothers hiding behind the bushes cried, and with this song he breathed soul into a wooden woman . And she smiled and sighed...
Then the brothers rushed to her and shouted:
- I created you, you must be my wife!
- You should be my wife, I dressed you, naked and unhappy!
- And I made you rich, you should be my wife!
But the girl answered:
- You created me - be my father. You dressed me, and you decorated me - be my brothers. And you, who breathed my soul into me and taught me to enjoy life, you alone will be my husband for life ...
And the trees, and the flowers, and the whole earth, together with the birds, sang to them the hymn of love...
After finishing the story, Leonardo looked at the Mona Lisa. God, what happened to her face! It seemed to be lit up with light, its eyes shone. The smile of bliss, slowly disappearing from her face, remained in the corners of her mouth and trembled, giving it an amazing, mysterious and slightly sly expression.
For a long time Leonardo da Vinci did not experience such a huge surge of creative forces. Everything that was in him most cheerful, bright and clear, he put into his work.
To enhance the impression of the face, Leonardo dressed the Mona Lisa in a simple, unadorned dress, modest and dark. The impression of simplicity and naturalness is enhanced by the skillfully painted folds of the dress and light scarf.
Artists and art lovers who sometimes visited Leonardo saw the Mona Lisa and were delighted:
- What magical skill Messer Leonardo possesses, depicting this lively brilliance, this wetness of the eyes!
She's definitely breathing!
She's laughing now!
- After all, you can almost feel the living skin of this lovely face ... It seems that in the deepening of the neck you can see the beating of the pulse.
What a weird smile she has. It's as if she's thinking about something and doesn't finish it...
Indeed, in the eyes of the "La Gioconda" there is light and a wet sheen, as in living eyes, and the thinnest lilac veins are visible in the eyelids. but the great artist did something unprecedented: he also painted the air, permeated with moist vapors and enveloping the figure with a transparent haze.
The most famous, many times studied and described in all languages of the world, "La Gioconda" is still the most mysterious painting of the great da Vinci. It still remains incomprehensible and continues to disturb the imagination for several centuries, perhaps precisely because it is not a portrait in the usual sense of the word. Leonardo da Vinci painted it contrary to the very concept of "portrait", which implies the image of a real person, similar to the original and with the attributes that characterize him (at least indirectly).
What the artist wrote goes far beyond the scope of a simple portrait. Every shade of the skin, every fold of clothing, the warm sparkle of the eyes, the life of the arteries and veins - the artist supplied his picture with all this. But before the viewer in the background there is also a steep chain of rocks with ice peaks at the foot of the mountains, a water surface with a wide and winding river flowing out of it, which, narrowing under a small bridge, turns into a miniature waterfall that disappears outside the picture.
The golden warm light of the Italian evening and the magical charm of Leonardo da Vinci's painting pour on the viewer. Intently, understanding everything, looks at the world and the people of the Gioconda. More than one century has passed since the artist created it, and with the last touch of Leonardo's brush, it became eternally alive. He himself had long felt that Mona Lisa lives against his will.
As art critic V. Lipatov writes:
"La Gioconda" was copied many times and always unsuccessfully: it was elusive, it did not even appear on someone else's canvas, it remained true to its creator.
They tried to tear it apart, to select and repeat at least an eternal smile, but in the pictures of students and followers, the smile faded, became false, died, like a creature imprisoned in captivity.
Indeed, not a single reproduction will convey even a thousandth of the charm that flows from the portrait.
The Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset wrote that in La Gioconda there is a desire for inner liberation:
“Look at how tense her temples and smoothly shaved eyebrows are, how tightly her lips are compressed, with what hidden effort she tries to lift the heavy load of melancholic sadness. However, this tension is so imperceptible, her whole figure breathes with such graceful calmness, and her whole being is full of such immobility, that this inner effort is more likely to be guessed by the viewer than consciously expressed by the master. It wriggles, bites its tail like a snake, and, closing the movement in a circle, finally giving vent to despair, manifests itself in the famous Mona Lisa smile.
The unique "La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci was ahead of the development of painting for many centuries to come. The most incredible assumptions were made (that the Gioconda is pregnant, that she is oblique, that this is a man in disguise, that this is a self-portrait of the artist himself), but it is unlikely that it will ever be possible to fully explain why this work, created by Leonardo in his declining years, has such amazing and attractive power For this canvas is a creation of a truly divine, and not a human hand.
"One Hundred Great Paintings" by N.A. Ionina, publishing house "Veche", 2002
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, of course, is not only the most significant, successful and popular work of the Renaissance master da Vinci, but also his most discussed creation.
Analysis
The work template itself is extremely revolutionary, especially in the technique of realizing the portrait. Leonardo refused to use a clean background, as he had done before. The location of the figure from the waist, the position of the hands is an absolute novelty. Although it may seem paradoxical, there is movement in this picture. The background shrouded in mist, the bridge over the river, the colors used by the artist create a feeling of naturalness and liveliness. It is assumed that a slight blur of the figure reflects the heartbeat of the heroine. The author also uses the author's sfumato technique in his work, creating a haze effect.
Framed work
One of the elements of the work that touches all viewers is Mona Lisa's smile, known all over the world. The smile is on the verge of recognition. Its presence and form varies depending on the points of observation. It is believed that she, for all her mystery, embodies the impossibility of finding a foothold in human feelings.
Leonardo transforms this portrait into an ideal image, paying special attention to his own vision of reality and nature, which are never in a static position, on the contrary, they are dynamic and alive.
Interpretations and symbolism
There is an assumption that the picture depicts an androgynous lover Leonardo. Some scholars believe that the Mona Lisa is a self-portrait of the artist. The use of modern technologies made it possible to look under the outer layer of paints and see another portrait there, reminiscent of both a draft version of the Mona Lisa and an independent work. However, the Louvre staff and many experts are skeptical of many studies and do not comment on the main high-profile statements.
Gioconda - a picture that perfectly represents "poetry" Leonardo da Vinci: this work shows the personal experiences of the creator, the complexity of the universe in the smallest detail. The background behind Lisa Gherardini is done in an exceptional way: corrosion and rocks formed by rivers, with light filtering, create a landscape. One can trace the transformation of matter from solid to liquid and then to gaseous. The woman, as the subject of the composition, does not contradict this theme, but rather represents the last step in the evolution of this list.
Light in this work plays a fundamental role, it completely “embraces” the woman, creates sharp contrasts with dark fragments, and is also the subject of controversy.
Heritage
Entire books and scientific works are dedicated to Gioconda, the authors of which are trying to understand the content, but the work still hides many secrets. "Mona Lisa" has generated a lot of controversy and talk, still remaining one of the most popular paintings in the history of art. The elusiveness of nature and the human soul, as well as other symbolism, is still trying to be interpreted with the help of the mentioned smile, the colors and colors used, as well as modern technologies.
Painting "Mona Lisa" updated: October 25, 2017 by: Gleb