The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

902 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mona lisa critical analysis

If someone where to ask you to name a famous painting, what would you say? I would answer The Mona Lisa, possibly the most prominent painting there is today. For my research project, I will be analyzing, retelling, and exploring the Mona Lisa. I chose this piece of artwork because I love art and was just interested in why the Mona Lisa is such a well-known painting.
The Mona Lisa was created by Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. It was started in approximately c.1503 in the town of Florence, Italy. In 1503, according to the official website of the Louvre museum, an Italian silk merchant by the name of Francesco del Giocondo came to Da Vinci with a request for a portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini. The painting was oil paints on a poplar wood canvas. Today, it is displayed in The Louvre Museum in Paris, France at 77x53 centimeters. In Italy, the Mona Lisa is called La Gioconda. However, in France, it is referred to as La Joconde. It is known that the name Mona Lisa translates to my lady, Lisa- being the name of Franceso del Giocondo’s wife.
No one actually knows why the Mona Lisa was created but a theory was that it was created to commemorate Francesco and Lisa’s second son, Andrea. After Leonardo died, the painting was brought by the King of France. From there, it hung on the walls of the Palace of Fountainebleau for several generations. Over the years, the Mona Lisa had different homes, even on the bedroom walls of Napoleon.
Many historians ponder over one important question: Where is the second Mona Lisa? You might be confused so let me clarify. Leonardo is known to have another painting of the original one, meaning he creates two versions of one painting. To back this claim, two versions of one painting by Leo...

... middle of paper ...

...ble piece of artwork of possibly a remarkable woman. She resembles the artwork of the 16th century and what can be done with few materials than today. Although the Mona Lisa remains a historical mystery, just one look at it captivates you, and you can already picture the story behind it. So, when you visit France, come by the Louvre Museum. Will you be genuinely in awe or just pass by without a glance?

Works Cited

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TckJwAV81k
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISowhGz5wnk
3) http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/a/monalisa_2.htm
4) http://monalisa.org/category/historical-evidence/
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa
6) http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/mona_lisa/mlevel_1/mtimeline.html
7) http://lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/mona.html
8) http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/mona_nav/main_monafrm.html

Show More
Related

  • European Renaissance Dbq

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most famous artists during the time of the Renaissance, The Mona Lisa for example, was a painting created between 1503 and 1506, it is the most famous painting ever painted. It is a portrait of the young wife of a Florentine silk merchant. It shows a young woman with her famous smile sitting on a balcony high above a landscape.

    Read More

  • Rape Of Europa Essay

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    Next they go into further detail about the history of the painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer. They say that it was described as the “Mona Lisa” of the Austrian people to whom it belonged to.

    Read More

  • Giovanni Bellini Doge Loredan Essay

    1472 Words  | 3 Pages

    As stated by Kloss (2011): “From her first name, Lisa, added to Mona, which is the abbreviated version of "ma Donna," meaning "my lady," we get Mona Lisa-- Lady Lisa, if you will (L20, 14:38). At the age of sixteen she married a silk merchant and politician, Francesco Del Giocondo. Lisa was thought to have sat for Leonardo’s portrait at the age of twenty-four. The portrait was originally called La Giocondo, a proper title after Lisa’s married name, which is Italian for joyous or happy; again speculated by some, to have been the reasoning behind the work’s title, which was eventually called “the Mona

    Read More

  • Leonardo Da Vinci: The Renaissance Man

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perhaps one of the most famous paintings Leonardo da Vinci painted is the Mona Lisa in which he painted in 1503. Many experts believe the portrait is of a very wealthy women who lived in Florence whose

    Read More

  • Leonardo Da Vinci During The High Renaissance

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nearly everything captured the attention of handsome, intelligent, and charming da Vinci. His dream of flying and pursuit of inventing often compelled him to abandon a project for the sake of exploration. Contrary to the beliefs of most notorious figures of the time, da Vinci comprehended the flaws of humanism and relativism. Rather, he recognized a higher authority, which he strove to obey. Today, da Vinci is most frequently recognized as the creative genius behind the fascinating “Mona Lisa.” “Mona Lisa” herself, was likely quite ordinary. In fact, “Mona” is simply an abbreviation of the title, “Mrs.” or “Madonna.” While the subject’s true identity is debatable, da Vinci’s skillful execution is undeniable. The blurred contours and dark undertones of his own technique, sfumato, pair with intentional fuzziness and purposeful shadows to create a portrait with exceptional depth and rich meaning. Opposed to the preferences of many artists of the day, da Vinci favored pleasant subjects. No doubt his employment of musicians and jesters to entertain his subjects is partially responsible for Mona Lisa’s distinguished smile. Indubitably, Leonardo da Vinci’s achievements set the standard for High Renaissance

    Read More

  • Martha and Mary Magdalene by Caravaggio

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Painting Martha and Mary Magdalene is one of the many masterpieces in the DIA’s collection in Detroit. Although there is much more to understanding a work of art then just looking at it. In order to understand a piece, you have to understand the Artist, the time period, and the symbols in that painting that may have very different meaning today.

    Read More

  • Medieval Art Essay

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    found another painting that an artist did of the Mona Lisa. They discovered that this artist

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Mona Lisa

    599 Words  | 2 Pages

    background information of the Mona Lisa stated. Mona Lisa was the wife of Francesco del

    Read More

  • The Pieta and David by Michelangelo Buonarroti

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance times, as well as one of the greatest of all time. He did was a painter, a sculptor as well as an architect, excelling in all areas from a young age. Michelangelo’s art was a symbol of the Florence people’s cultural and political power and superiority. Michelangelo thought of himself as a divine being, meaning he thought he was perfection and no one could ever compare. To this day through, in terms of his art, this may hold some truth depending mostly on opinion. He created some of the most magnificent, and most sought after pieces of all time. Some of them are still around today for us to witness including Michelangelo’s Pieta, and one of his most famous Michelangelo’s David.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Portrait Of A Lady And Mona Lisa

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Lady has a white “V” neck shaped collar while the Mona Lisa has gold trim on her square shaped collar. Mona Lisa’s dress also looks a lot more flowy and lighter while the Lady’s dress seems more layered and thicker probably due to the colder weather in northern Europe. The Lady only has a dark blue canvas for a background while the Mona Lisa has a clearly defined landscape behind her with trees, water and a dirt road. The veil that the Lady wears is made from significantly thicker cloth and wears a dark colored headband. The Mona Lisa’s veil is barely visible. The Lady has a lighter hair color and is tied up in a bun with some kind of net or cap around it with silver pins tucked into it to keep her veil in place, while Mona Lisa has her dark, wavy hair draping down her shoulders in a casual yet elegant manner. We can see the ears on the Lady, but the Mona Lisa has her ears covered by her hair. The eyes of the Lady are bright and hazel colored. Mona Lisa’s eyes are dark and you can barely see her pupils in her irises. Maybe that is how Leonardo got the effect that her eyes seem to be moving. It also appears that she has no eyebrows, or they’re severely

    Read More

  • Mona Lisa Comparison

    1634 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Mona Lisa is wearing a long sleeve dress that is not revealing at all, she doesn’t show any skin in an inappropriate way while the Mona Loca is wearing a very short dress that shows a lot of cleavage and her nipples as well. She is also wearing net tights with money tucked in them that show her thick legs and tattoos on them; meanwhile the Mona Lisa does not show anything from the waist down. Da Vinci also gave the Mona Lisa, a thin vail over her hair, but Abstrk did not put anything over the Mona Loca’s head. The Mona Loca has a cigarette in her hand, while the Mona Lisa does not have anything in her hands. It seems like the Mona Loca has more freedom because she has tattoos all over her body which tells she makes her own the decisions to do what she wants to do with her body. Also, she wears what she wants and she doesn’t seem to care what others would think about it. However, the Mona Lisa’s wardrobe says that she is conservative and reserved, it looks as if this type of clothing is what she had to wear in order to be accepted by her culture in that time. In contrary, the Mona Loca doesn’t feel as if she needs to be accepted by anyone. But, the Mona Lisa proves how reserved she had to be by wearing a vail over her head. She is not be able to free her hair (which could be a sign of sexuality to her culture) or look provocative in any way. Whereas, by holding a cigarette in her hands, the Mona Loca demonstrates

    Read More

  • “The Pieta” by Michelangelo

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    Just as other works that reflect art, pieces in the category of fine arts serve the important message of passing certain messages or portraying a special feeling towards a particular person, function or activity. At times due to the nature of a particular work, it can become so valuable that its viewers cannot place a price on it. It is not the nature or texture of an art that qualifies it, but the appreciation by those who look at it (Lewis & Lewis, 2008).

    Read More

  • The Louvre

    371 Words  | 1 Pages

    T h e A r t M u s e u m s of P a r i s

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Leonardo Da Vinci

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    Leonardo is one of the few people who has the ability to make these qualities seem so perfect under his hands. His artworks are by far the most popular pieces of art that are in museums to this day. Recently a popular painting “Salvator Mundi”, painted between 1490-1500, has been placed up for auction and is estimated that the painting will sale for at least $100 million. This is just one of 16 surviving paintings that have made it through the years and it’s not even the most popular one. The Mona Lisa is the most popular painting by anyone to this very day. It was painted in the year 1503 and is famous for multiple reasons. One being that da Vinci didn’t just paint this ordinarily, but in a technique called sfumato and it was painted in atmospheric perspective as seen in the background. The technique sfumato is the blending of oil paints to blur the lines between colors. Atmospheric perspective was a new painting style where things far away in paintings looked blurry and this style was used in the background of the Mona Lisa. The word mysterious is associated with this painting and others that have come from his works. The smile that is presented in the Mona Lisa is somewhat puzzling in its own way and the person depicted in the painting is still not 100% known to experts to this day. The eyes that are on the Mona Lisa seem to watch and follow you when you look at the painting. One of the weird myths that

    Read More

  • A Critique of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait of a woman that was painted by the famous artist Leonardo Da Vinci. This portrait was painted in oil on white Lombardy Panel Paper. It is an oil painting that utilizes the technique of sfumato. The painting technique sfumato overlays translucent layers of colors. This is used to create a blending of colors so there are no clear transitions seen. The materials used in sfumato are oil paints and a Lombardy Panel Paper. Sfumato is used to create a painting that appears to have no lines. The subject of this painting is said to be a women named Lisa del Giocondo. Meanwhile, many other artists and historians have suggested that the subject of the painting are various other people such as Costanza d’Avalos, Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Francavilla, Isabella d’Este, Cecilia Gallerani, Pacifica Brandano, Caterina Sforza and Isabella Gualanda. Some theories also suggested the woman is actually Leonardo Da Vinci, the artist himself in his own painting. The woman portrayed in the Mona Lisa has no visible eyebrows or eyelashes. The women sits in a stance ...

    Read More

More about The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

Open Document