There is a lady seated with a smirk on her face. she is peeking out the corner of her eyes. Her hair is flat at the top, parted in the middle of her head hanging shoulder length curly. She is sitting in a chair side ways but her body is turned towards the viewer of the painting. She has on drape clothes, there is a cloth over her head covering half of her hair. There is also a background of water and some land with trees and sand.
They are not able to determine the history of the Mona Lisa painting but suggest it may have been paint between 1509-1519. It is believed to be a painting of wife of the wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Gioconda. History has been unable to determine for what reason this painting was made. Either it was from a time where her husband got a painting drawn by Leonardo da Vinci marking the time they purchased a new house. Another time would be from when they lost a daughter in 1499, which would explain the dark veil she is wearing in the picture representing her mourning. A second theory suggest that the artist 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 conclusively proven.
I think the artist was paid to paint this picture because of his artistic creativity. He did not just look at the model and simply paint her he put thought into the background of Lisa’s life and added significance to the picture. The smirk on her face represents happiness which is also incorporated with her last name’s italian meaning. I had no personal reason for not liking the picture. I just did not understand why this picture of a stale faced woman was so valued in this lifetime.
Even though is a mystery of what this image represents which I find very fascinating. I believe when other people may have looked at this picture back in that time, they may have thought this painting was so close to reality. After reading about the painting I have learned that the artist put more thought into painting her than just exactly what he seen. I could see why this would be such a recognized image even in today’s time. If someone were to paint a picture of me i would want details that relate to me close to what Leonardo incorporated in “Mona Lisa”.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mona-Lisa-painting
The true identity of Mona Lisa and her enigmatic smile have intrigued art lovers around the world. Mona Lisa’s smile can be explained by the fact that images are blurred in the periphery of our vision, and her smile is only seen when blurred. Anyway, this is very mysterious for me.
I love how you chose the “Mona Lisa” because I always thought that the subject was creepy myself. I had no idea that the lady in the painting had a last name that meant happiness, so that’s very interesting. I always noticed that it seems as if she doesn’t have eyebrows in the painting too.
The Mona Lisa portrait never really sat well with me , the colors are boring and dull and the meaning behind it is unclear.
I think the mystery is what is so alluring to some people – they can devise their own story and make the work meaningful personally based on their own interpretation. I wonder if seeing it in person would illicit more devotion from those of us that respond more with “meh” than with “oooh!”?