Mona Lisa portrait caused a stir when it was out on display for the first time. According to history Mona Lisa was not so special, but just a young wife belonging to a Florentine merchant known as Giocondo. According to records, "Mona" was a prefix which stood for "Madonna" or rather "Mrs." The Portrait belonged to the high Renaissance works in several ways. First was the excellent utilization of the perspective with the total number of lines converging in one diminishing point on her head with a triangle like composition forming the significance of geometry of the whole painting. Then the portrait diverged from the usual stiff portraits characterized by displaying a relaxed by a three-quarter kind of poise. Looking at Mona Lisa painting, one could see a clear mastery of anatomy by just looking at the hands. To this end, it had been recorded that Leonardo had lived most of his time at the hospital, studying the skeletons as well as dissecting over thirty cadavers (Hales 291).
More to Mona Lisa has the uncommonly thick brows of the eye. Looking closely at the portrait one may also see that eyebrows are almost missing. It is established that most women at the time used to shave off their eyebrows. What is befuddling about the portrait is that when one looks at its pit of the throat, it is as if its pulses were beating. Vasari, an enthusiast, wrote a clear treatise of this portrait. All the same his observation that the painting looked like one with life was entirely accurate.
Expressively the outer parts of Mona Lisa’s human face stand out. One sees the outer points to her lips as well as the eyes. This might have been Leonardo’s deliberate way of leaving out the sections in a shadow that creatively gives the effect of making different people glean their disparate emotions from the face. Surely, no one emotion can be seen on her face; they are several.
Further, one notices the distinguished absence of jewellery on Mona Lisa. This perhaps characterizes the practice then that subjects were to be portrayed in their natural self. Thus, her hair is smooth, but one cannot fail to notice the black veil with her hands free of any ornaments; there are no bracelets or even rings. Besides, nothing is adorning her neck. Leonardo's curiosity with codes is evident in the intricate loops seen running across Mona Lisa's dress neckline. This might be expressive of Leonardo's vain search for some message in the neckline loops. The painting as observed from an objective standpoint moves away from any traditional trends. This is because the painter seems to have abandoned the usual poses which mostly represented a subject as stiff and upright kind of thing. In its place, Leonardo put a relaxed sitter replete with beautifully painted hands graciously resting on the armrest of her chair.
Though most people know that Mona Lisa was also known as La Gioconda, which refers to a "light-hearted woman" by the Italians, the French reference to it is La Jaconde. This portrait was originally done on wood and was much larger than it is represented today. Two columns on both sides of the picture have been excised. This makes it difficult for one to notice that she was sitting on top of a terrace but on clear observation, evidently cut off are the edges of the portrait presently measuring 77 by 53 centimeters (Hales 201).
But what of the plant life and nature as seen in the background? It has been recorded that by the time Leonardo was doing the portrait, he was also engaged in sketching some of his finest plant life as well as nature. The background of Mona Lisa is quite elaborate with this beauty of nature. In the perspective, one can also see the bridge. The bridge has now been recognized as the Buriano.
The Mona Lisa painting has not missed in intrigues. An Italian thief stole it 1911 and took it to Italy. It took the concerned authorities over a week to search the whole Louvre which was 49 acres. What could only be found was the frame of the painting. The frame was found in the staircase. Two years later, the painting was found in Florence when an Italian seller known as Vincenzo Perugia put it up for sale at the Ufizzi Gallery for a staggering USD 100,000. It got exhibited there for some time, but it was eventually brought back to Paris (Strickland and Boswell 68).
A story is told of how Perugia had spent a whole night hiding in a small closet at the Louvre. As the Museum closed, the thief simply walked where Mona Lisa hung, cut it from its frame when he reached the staircase. He unscrewed the doorknob and exited. All this shows how priceless the painting is. Leonardo’s work was simply a masterpiece!
Works cited
Hales, Dianne. Mona Lisa: A life discovered. London: V&A Publications. 2006. Print.
Strickland, Carol, and Boswell John. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History
