TheMona Lisa[a] is a half-lengthportrait painting by the Italian artistLeonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypalmasterpiece of theItalian Renaissance,[4][5] it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, [and] the most parodied work of art in the world."[6] The painting's novel qualities include the subject's enigmatic expression,[7] monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmosphericillusionism.[8]
The painting has been traditionally considered to depict the Italian noblewomanLisa del Giocondo.[9] It is painted in oil on awhite poplarpanel.[10] Leonardo never gave the painting to the Giocondo family.[11] It was believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. KingFrancis I of France acquired theMona Lisa after Leonardo's death in 1519, and it became the property of the French Republic. It has normally been on display at theLouvre in Paris since 1797.[12]
The painting's global fame and popularity partly stem from its 1911 theft byVincenzo Peruggia, who attributed his actions to Italian patriotism—a belief it should belong to Italy. The theft and subsequent recovery in 1914 generated unprecedented publicity for anart theft, and led to the publication of many cultural depictions such as the 1915 operaMona Lisa, two early 1930s films (The Theft of the Mona Lisa andArsène Lupin), and the song "Mona Lisa" recorded byNat King Cole—one of the most successful songs of the 1950s.[13]
TheMona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds theGuinness World Record for the highest known painting insurance valuation in history at US$100 million in 1962,[14] equivalent to $1 billion as of 2023[update].[15]
Thetitle of the painting, which is known in English asMona Lisa, is based on the presumption that it depictsLisa del Giocondo, although her likeness is uncertain.Renaissance art historianGiorgio Vasari wrote that "Leonardo undertook to paint, for Francesco del Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife."[18][19][20]Monna in Italian is a polite form of address originating asma donna—similar toMa'am,Madam, ormy lady in English. This becamemadonna, and its contractionmonna. The title of the painting is spelled in Italian asMonna Lisa (mona being a vulgarity in Italian), which is rare in English,[21][22][23] where it is traditionally spelledMona.[24]
Lisa del Giocondo was a member of theGherardini family ofFlorence andTuscany, and the wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo.[25] The painting is thought to have been commissioned for their new home, and to celebrate the birth of their second son, Andrea.[26] The Italian name for the painting,La Gioconda, means "jocund" ("happy" or "jovial"), or literally "the jocund one", a pun on the feminine form of Lisa's married name, Giocondo.[25][27] In French, the titleLa Joconde has the same meaning.[24] Vasari's account of theMona Lisa comes fromhis biography of Leonardo published in 1550, 31 years after the artist's death. It has long been the best-known source of information on theprovenance of the work and identity of the sitter. Leonardo's assistantSalaì, at his death in 1524, owned a portrait which in his personal papers was namedla Gioconda, a painting bequeathed to him by Leonardo.[28]
That Leonardo painted such a work, and its date, were confirmed in 2005 when a scholar atHeidelberg University discovered a marginal note in a 1477 printing of a volume byancient Roman philosopherCicero. Dated October 1503, the note was written by Leonardo's contemporaryAgostino Vespucci. This note likens Leonardo to renowned Greek painterApelles, who is mentioned in the text, and states that Leonardo was at that time working on a painting ofLisa del Giocondo.[29] In response to the announcement of the discovery of this document, Vincent Delieuvin, theLouvre representative, stated "Leonardo da Vinci was painting, in 1503, the portrait of a Florentine lady by the name of Lisa del Giocondo. About this we are now certain. Unfortunately, we cannot be absolutely certain that this portrait of Lisa del Giocondo is the painting of the Louvre."[30]
TheMona Lisa bears a strong resemblance to many Renaissance depictions of theVirgin Mary, who was at that time seen as an ideal for womanhood.[44] The woman sits markedly upright in a pozzetto armchair with her arms folded, a sign of her reserved posture. Her gaze is fixed on the observer. The woman appears alive to an unusual extent, which Leonardo achieved by his method of not drawing outlines. The soft blending (sfumato) creates an ambiguous mood "mainly in two features: the corners of the mouth, and the corners of the eyes".[45]
Detail of Lisa's hands, her right hand resting on her left. Leonardo chose this gesture rather than a wedding ring to depict Lisa as a virtuous woman and faithful wife.[48]
The painting was one of the first Italian portraits to depict the sitter in front of an imaginary landscape,[49] although some scholars favour a realistic description,[50] and Leonardo was one of the first painters to useaerial perspective.[51] The enigmatic woman is portrayed seated in what appears to be an open loggia with dark pillar bases on either side. Behind her, a vast landscape recedes to icy mountains,[52] winding paths and a distant bridge, giving only the slightest indications of human presence. Leonardo chose to place the horizon line not at the neck, as he did withGinevra de' Benci, but on a level with the eyes, thus linking the figure with the landscape and emphasizing the mysterious nature of the painting.[47] The bridge in the background was identified by Silvano Vincenti as the four-archedRomito di Laterina bridge fromEtruscan-Roman times nearLaterina,Arezzo, over theArno river.[53] Other bridges with similar arches suggested as possible locations had more arches.[53] Some observers find similarities with theAzzone Visconti Bridge.[50]
Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes, although Vasari describes the eyebrows in detail.[54][b] In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte announced that his ultra-high resolution scans of the painting provide evidence thatMona Lisa was originally painted with eyelashes and eyebrows but that these had gradually disappeared over time, perhaps as a result of overcleaning.[57] Cotte discovered that the painting had been reworked several times, with changes made to the size of the face and the direction of gaze. He also found that in one layer the subject was depicted wearing numerous hairpins and a headdress adorned with pearls which was later scrubbed out and overpainted.[58]
There has been much speculation regarding the painting's sitter and landscape background. For example, Leonardo probably painted his sitter's appearance faithfully since her beauty is not seen as being among the best, "even when measured by late quattrocento (15th century) or even twenty-first century standards."[59] Some historians in Eastern art, such asYukio Yashiro, argue that the landscape in the background of the picture was influenced byChinese paintings;[60] this thesis has been contested for lack of clear evidence.[60]
Research in 2003 by ProfessorMargaret Livingstone ofHarvard University said thatMona Lisa's smile disappears when observed with direct vision, known asfoveal. Because of the way the human eye processes visual information, it is less suited to pick up shadows directly; however,peripheral vision can pick up shadows well.[61] Research in 2008 by a geomorphology professor atUrbino University and an artist-photographer revealed thatMona Lisa's landscape was similar to some views in theMontefeltro region in the Italian provinces ofPesaro and Urbino, andRimini.[62][63] Research in 2023/2024 by geologist and art historian Ann Pizzorusso suggests that the landscape contains "several recognisable features ofLecco, on the shores ofLake Como in theLombardy region ofnorthern Italy."[64]
History
Creation and date
OfLeonardo da Vinci's works, theMona Lisa is the only portrait whose authenticity has never been seriously questioned,[65] and one of four works—the others beingSaint Jerome in the Wilderness,Adoration of the Magi andThe Last Supper—whose attribution has avoided controversy.[66] He had begun working on a portrait ofLisa del Giocondo, the sitter for theMona Lisa, by October 1503.[29][30] It is believed by some that theMona Lisa was begun in 1503 or 1504 in Florence.[67] Although the Louvre states that it was "doubtless painted between 1503 and 1506",[8] art historianMartin Kemp says that there are some difficulties in confirming the dates with certainty.[25]Alessandro Vezzosi believes that the painting is characteristic of Leonardo's style in the final years of his life, post-1513.[68] Other academics argue that, given the historical documentation, Leonardo would have painted the work from 1513.[69] According to Vasari, "after he had lingered over it four years, [he] left it unfinished".[19] In 1516, Leonardo was invited byKing Francis I to work at theClos Lucé near theChâteau d'Amboise; it is believed that he took theMona Lisa with him and continued to work on it after he moved to France.[37] Art historian Carmen C. Bambach has concluded that Leonardo probably continued refining the work until 1516 or 1517.[70] Leonardo's right hand was paralyticc. 1517,[71] which may indicate why he left theMona Lisa unfinished.[72][73][74][c]
Circa 1505,[76]Raphael executed a pen-and-ink sketch, in which the columns flanking the subject are more apparent. Experts universally agree that it is based on Leonardo's portrait.[77][78][79] Other later copies of theMona Lisa, such as those in theNational Museum of Art, Architecture and Design andThe Walters Art Museum, also display large flanking columns. As a result, it was thought that theMona Lisa had been trimmed.[80][81][82][83] By 1993,Frank Zöllner observed that the painting surface had never been trimmed;[84] this was confirmed through a series of tests in 2004.[85] In view of this,Vincent Delieuvin, curator of 16th-century Italian painting at the Louvre, states that the sketch and these other copies must have been inspired by another version,[86] while Zöllner states that the sketch may be after another Leonardo portrait of the same subject.[84]
Louis Béroud's 1911 painting depictingMona Lisa displayed in theLouvre before the theft, which Béroud discovered and reported to the guards
After the French Revolution, the painting was moved to the Louvre but spent a brief period in the bedroom ofNapoleon (d. 1821) in theTuileries Palace.[94] Although theMona Lisa was not widely known outside the art world, in the 1860s, a portion of the Frenchintelligentsia began to hail it as a masterwork of Renaissance painting.[95] During theFranco-Prussian War (1870–1871), the painting was moved from the Louvre to theBrest Arsenal.[96]
In 1911, the painting was still not popular among the lay-public.[97] On 21 August 1911, the painting wasstolen from the Louvre.[98] The painting was first reported missing the next day by painterLouis Béroud. After some confusion as to whether the painting was being photographed somewhere, the Louvre was closed for a week for investigation. French poetGuillaume Apollinaire came under suspicion and was arrested and imprisoned. Apollinaire implicated his friendPablo Picasso, who was brought in for questioning. Both were later exonerated.[99][100] The real culprit was Louvre employeeVincenzo Peruggia, who had helped construct the painting's glass case.[101] He carried out the theft by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and walking out with the painting hidden under his coat after the museum had closed.[27]
Vacant wall in the Louvre's Salon Carré after the painting was stolen in 1911
"La Joconde est Retrouvée" ("Mona Lisa is Found"),Le Petit Parisien, 13 December 1913
TheMona Lisa in theUffizi Gallery inFlorence, 1913. Museum director Giovanni Poggi(right) inspects the painting.
Excelsior, "La Joconde est Revenue" ("The Mona Lisa has returned"), 1 January 1914
Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed that Leonardo's painting should have been returned to an Italian museum.[102] Peruggia may have been motivated by an associate whose copies of the original would significantly rise in value after the painting's theft.[103][page needed] After having kept theMona Lisa in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was caught when he attempted to sell it toGiovanni Poggi, director of theUffizi Gallery inFlorence. It was exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery for over two weeks and returned to the Louvre on 4 January 1914.[104] Peruggia served six months in prison for the crime and was hailed for his patriotism in Italy.[100] A year after the theft,Saturday Evening Post journalistKarl Decker wrote that he met an alleged accomplice namedEduardo de Valfierno, who claimed to have masterminded the theft. ForgerYves Chaudron was to have created six copies of the painting to sell in the US while concealing the location of the original.[103] Decker published this account of the theft in 1932.[105][13]
DuringWorld War II, it was again removed from the Louvre and taken first to the Château d'Amboise, then to theLoc-Dieu Abbey andChâteau de Chambord, then finally to theMusée Ingres inMontauban.[13][106] Since the 1990s, the painting has been temporarily moved to accommodate renovations to the Louvre on three occasions: between 1992 and 1995, from 2001 to 2005, and again in 2019.[107]
On 30 December 1956, Bolivian Ugo Ungaza Villegas threw a rock at theMona Lisa while it was on display at the Louvre. He did so with such force that it shattered the glass case and dislodged a speck of pigment near the left elbow.[108] The painting was protected by glass because a few years earlier a man who claimed to be in love with the painting had cut it with a razor blade and tried to steal it.[109] After this attack,Salvador Dalí wrote in 1963 an essay titled "Why they attack the Mona Lisa", referencing earlier Freud theories.[43][40]
Since the 1956 attack,bulletproof glass has been used to shield the painting from any further attacks, and in all subsequent cases the painting was undamaged. On 21 April 1974, while the painting was on display at theTokyo National Museum, a woman sprayed it with red paint as a protest against that museum's failure to provide access for disabled people.[110] On 2 August 2009, a Russian woman, distraught over being denied French citizenship, threw a ceramic teacup purchased at the Louvre; the vessel shattered against the glass enclosure.[111][112]
On 29 May 2022, a male activist, disguised as a woman in a wheelchair, threwcake at the protective glass covering the painting in an apparent attempt to raise awareness forclimate change;[113] the painting was not damaged.[114] The man was arrested and placed in psychiatric care in the police headquarters,[115] and an investigation was opened after the Louvre filed a complaint.[116] On 28 January 2024, two attackers from an environmentalist group threw soup at the painting's protective glass, demanding the right to "healthy and sustainable food" and criticizing the contemporary state of agriculture; the painting was not damaged.[117]
Modern analysis
In the early 21st century, French scientist Pascal Cotte hypothesized a hidden portrait underneath the surface of the painting. He analysed the painting in the Louvre with reflective light technology beginning in 2004, and producedcircumstantial evidence for his theory.[118][119][120] Cotte admits that his investigation was carried out only in support of his hypotheses and should not be considered as definitive proof.[119][28] The underlying portrait appears to be of a sitter looking to the side, and lacks flanking columns,[121] but it does not fit with historical descriptions of the painting. Both Vasari andGian Paolo Lomazzo describe the subject as smiling,[18][122] unlike the subject in Cotte's supposed portrait.[119][28] In 2020, Cotte published a study alleging that the painting has anunderdrawing, transferred from a preparatory drawing via thespolvero technique.[123]
Conservation
The tourist's view in 2015
TheMona Lisa has survived for more than 500 years, and an international commission convened in 1952 noted that "the picture is in a remarkable state of preservation."[85] It has never been fully restored,[124] so the current condition is partly due to a variety of conservation treatments the painting has undergone. A detailed analysis in 1933 by Madame de Gironde revealed that earlier restorers had "acted with a great deal of restraint."[85] Nevertheless, applications ofvarnish made to the painting had darkened even by the end of the 16th century, and an aggressive 1809 cleaning and revarnishing removed some of the uppermost portion of the paint layer, resulting in a washed-out appearance to the face of the figure. Despite the treatments, theMona Lisa has been well cared for throughout its history, and although the panel's warping caused the curators "some worry",[125] the 2004–05 conservation team was optimistic about the future of the work.[85]
Poplar panel
At some point, theMona Lisa was removed from its original frame. The unconstrained poplar panel warped freely with changes in humidity, and as a result, a crack developed near the top of the panel, extending down to the hairline of the figure. In the mid-18th century to early 19th century, twobutterfly-shaped walnut braces were inserted into the back of the panel to a depth of about one third the thickness of the panel. This intervention was skillfully executed, and successfully stabilized the crack. Sometime between 1888 and 1905, or perhaps during the picture's theft, the upper brace fell out. A later restorer glued and lined the resulting socket and crack with cloth.[126][127] The picture is kept under strict, climate-controlled conditions in its bulletproof glass case. The humidity is maintained at 50% ±10%, and the temperature is maintained between 18 °C (64 °F) and 21 °C (70 °F). To compensate for fluctuations in relative humidity, the case is supplemented with a bed ofsilica gel treated to provide 55% relative humidity.[85]
Frame
Because theMona Lisa's poplarsupport expands and contracts with changes in humidity, the picture has experienced some warping. In response to warping and swelling experienced during its storage during World War II, and to prepare the picture for an exhibit to honour the anniversary of Leonardo's 500th birthday, theMona Lisa was fitted in 1951 with a flexible oak frame with beechcrosspieces. This flexible frame, which is used in addition to the decorative frame, exerts pressure on the panel to keep it from warping further. In 1970, the beech crosspieces were switched to maple after it was found that thebeechwood had been infested with insects. In 2004–05, a conservation and study team replaced the maple crosspieces with sycamore ones, and an additional metal crosspiece was added for scientific measurement of the panel's warp.[citation needed] TheMona Lisa has had many different decorative frames in its history. In 1909, the art collectorComtesse de Béhague gave the portrait its current frame,[128] a Renaissance-era work consistent with the historical period of theMona Lisa. The edges of the painting have been trimmed at least once in its history to fit the picture into various frames, albeit no part of the original paint layer has been trimmed.[85]
Cleaning and touch-up
The first and most extensive recorded cleaning, revarnishing, and touch-up of theMona Lisa was an 1809 wash and revarnishing undertaken by Jean-Marie Hooghstoel, who was responsible for the restoration of paintings for the galleries of theMusée Napoléon. The work involved cleaning with spirits, touch-ups of colour, and revarnishing the painting. In 1906, Louvre restorer Eugène Denizard performed watercolour retouches on areas of the paint layer disturbed by the crack in the panel. Denizard also retouched the edges of the picture with varnish to mask areas that had been covered initially by an older frame. In 1913, when the painting was recovered after its theft, Denizard was again called upon to work on theMona Lisa. Denizard was directed to clean the picture withoutsolvent and to lightly touch up several scratches on the painting with watercolour. In 1952, the varnish layer over the background in the painting was evened out. After the second 1956 attack, restorer Jean-Gabriel Goulinat was directed to touch up the damage toMona Lisa's left elbow with watercolour.[85] In 1977, a new insect infestation was discovered in the back of the panel as a result of crosspieces installed to keep the painting from warping. This was treated on the spot withcarbon tetrachloride, and later with anethylene oxide treatment. In 1985, the spot was again treated with carbon tetrachloride as a preventive measure.[85]
Display
On 6 April 2005—following a period of curatorial maintenance, recording, and analysis—the painting was moved to a new location within the museum's Salle des États. It is displayed in a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure behind bulletproof glass.[129] Since 2005, the painting has been illuminated by anLED lamp, and a new 20-watt LED lamp that was specially designed for this painting was installed in 2013. The lamp has acolour rendering index of up to 98 and minimizesinfrared andultraviolet radiation, which could otherwise degrade the painting.[130] The renovation of the gallery where the painting now resides was financed by the Japanese broadcasterNippon Television.[131] As of 2019, about 10.2 million people view the painting at the Louvre each year.[132] A new queuing system introduced in 2019 reduces the amount of time museum visitors have to wait in line to see the painting. After going through the queue, a group has about 30 seconds to see the painting.[133]
On the 500th anniversary of the master's death, the Louvre held the largest ever single exhibit of Leonardo's works from 24 October 2019 to 24 February 2020. TheMona Lisa was not included because it is in such great demand among visitors to the museum; the painting remained on display in its gallery.[134][135] In 2024, it was decided to place the panel in a separate room. This change will require significant construction changes, including a new entrance to the Louvre and two rooms in the basement under the museum's square courtyard. Due to the renovation, visitors will be able to pass directly to the painting, which will reduce queues at the Louvre.[136][137]
Where earlier critics such asVasari in the 16th century andAndré Félibien in the 17th praised the picture for itsrealism, by the mid-19th century, writers began to regard theMona Lisa as imbued with a sense of mystery andromance. In 1859,Théophile Gautier wrote that theMona Lisa was a "sphinx of beauty who smiles so mysteriously" and that "Beneath the form expressed one feels a thought that is vague, infinite, inexpressible. One is moved, troubled ... repressed desires, hopes that drive one to despair, stir painfully."Walter Pater's essay of 1869 described the sitter as "older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in the deep seas, and keeps their fallen day about her."[140]
By the early 20th century, some critics started to feel the painting had become a repository for subjectiveexegeses and theories.[141] Upon the painting's theft in 1911, Renaissance historianBernard Berenson admitted that it had "simply become an incubus, and [he] was glad to be rid of her."[141][142]Jean Metzinger'sLe goûter (Tea Time) was exhibited at the 1911Salon d'Automne and was sarcastically described as "la Joconde à la cuiller" (Mona Lisa with a spoon) by art criticLouis Vauxcelles on the front page ofGil Blas.[143]André Salmon subsequently described the painting as "The Mona Lisa of Cubism".[144][145]
Theavant-garde art world has made note of theMona Lisa's undeniable popularity. Because of the painting's overwhelming stature,Dadaists andSurrealists often produce modifications andcaricatures. In 1883,Le rire, an image of aMona Lisa smoking a pipe, byEugène Bataille (Sapeck), was shown at the "Incoherents" show in Paris. In 1919,Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential modern artists, createdL.H.O.O.Q., aMona Lisa parody made by adorning a cheap reproduction with a moustache and goatee.[39][40] Duchamp added an inscription, which when read out loud in French sounds like "Elle a chaud au cul" (meaning "she has a hot ass"), implying the woman in the painting is in a state of sexual excitement and intended as aFreudian joke.[146] According toRhonda R. Shearer, the apparent reproduction is in fact a copy partly modelled on Duchamp's own face.[147]
Salvador Dalí, famous for his surrealist work, paintedSelf portrait as Mona Lisa in 1954.[148]Andy Warhol createdserigraph prints of multipleMona Lisas, calledThirty Are Better than One, following the painting's visit to the United States in 1963.[149] The French urban artist known pseudonymously asInvader has created versions of theMona Lisa on city walls in Paris and Tokyo using a mosaic style.[150] A 2014New Yorker magazine cartoon parodies the supposed enigma of theMona Lisa smile in an animation showing progressively more maniacal smiles.[151]
In the 21st century, theMona Lisa is considered the most famous painting in the world, adestination painting. Until the 20th century, it was one among many highly regarded artworks.[152] Once part ofKing Francis I of France's collection, theMona Lisa was among the first artworks to be exhibited in the Louvre, which became a national museum after the French Revolution. Leonardo began to be revered as a genius, and the painting's popularity grew in the mid-19th century when French intelligentsia praised it as mysterious and a representation of thefemme fatale.[153] TheBaedeker guide in 1878 called it "the most celebrated work of Leonardo in the Louvre",[154] but the painting was known more by theintelligentsia than the general public.[155]
The 1911 theft of theMona Lisa and its subsequent return was reported worldwide, leading to a massive increase in public recognition of the painting. During the 20th century, it was an object for mass reproduction, merchandising, lampooning, and speculation, and was claimed to have been reproduced in "300 paintings and 2,000 advertisements".[154] TheMona Lisa was regarded as "just another Leonardo until early last century, when the scandal of the painting's theft from the Louvre and subsequent return kept a spotlight on it over several years."[156]
From December 1962 to March 1963, the French government lent it to the United States to be displayed in New York City and Washington, D.C.[157][158] It was shipped on the new ocean linerSSFrance.[159] In New York, an estimated 1.7 million people queued "in order to cast a glance at theMona Lisa for 20 seconds or so."[154] While exhibited in theMetropolitan Museum of Art, the painting was nearly drenched in water because of a faulty sprinkler; the painting's bullet-proof glass case protected it.[160] In 1974, the painting was exhibited in Tokyo and Moscow.[161] In 2014, 9.3 million people visited the Louvre.[162] Former directorHenri Loyrette reckoned that "80 percent of the people only want to see theMona Lisa."[163]
Financial worth
Before the 1962–1963 tour, the painting was assessed for insurance at $100 million (equivalent to$790 million in 2024), making it, in practice, themost highly-valued painting in the world. The insurance was not purchased; instead, more was spent on security.[164] In 2014, aFrance 24 article suggested that the painting could be sold to help ease the national debt, although it was observed that theMona Lisa and other such art works were prohibited from being sold by French heritage law, which states that, "Collections held in museums that belong to public bodies are considered public property and cannot be otherwise."[165]
Cultural depictions
Cultural depictions of theMona Lisa include:
The 1915Mona Lisa by German composer Max von Schillings.
The 2022 mystery filmGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery depicts the destruction of theMona Lisa, which has been borrowed from its location by a billionaire.
Lego released a set calledMona Lisa 31213 as part of their Lego Art theme. The set includes 1503 pieces to build it.[166]
A version ofMona Lisa known asMujer de mano de Leonardo Abince ("Woman by Leonardo da Vinci's hand",Museo del Prado, Madrid) was for centuries considered to be a work by Leonardo. Since its restoration in 2012, it is now thought to have been executed by one ofLeonardo's pupils in his studio at the same time asMona Lisa was being painted.[169] The Prado's conclusion that the painting is probably bySalaì (1480–1524) or byMelzi (1493–1572) has been called into question by others.[170] The restored painting is from a slightly different perspective than the originalMona Lisa, leading to thespeculation that it is part of the world's firststereoscopic pair;[171][172] however, a 2017 report demonstrated that this stereoscopic pair in fact gives no reliable stereoscopic depth.[173]
A version of theMona Lisa known as theIsleworth Mona Lisa was first bought by an English nobleman in 1778 and was rediscovered in 1913 byHugh Blaker, an art connoisseur. The painting was presented to the media in 2012 by the Mona Lisa Foundation.[174] It is a painting of the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci'sMona Lisa. The current scholarly consensus on attribution is unclear.[175] Some experts, includingFrank Zöllner,Martin Kemp, andLuke Syson denied the attribution to Leonardo;[176][177] professors such as Salvatore Lorusso, Andrea Natali,[178] and John F Asmus supported it;[179] others likeAlessandro Vezzosi andCarlo Pedretti were uncertain.[180]
If a person being photographed looks into the camera lens, the image produced provides an illusion that viewers perceive as the subject looking at them, irrespective of the photograph's position. It is presumably for this reason that many people, while taking photographs, ask subjects to look at the camera rather than anywhere else. In psychology, this is known as the "Mona Lisa illusion", which was named after the famous painting that also presents the same illusion.[183]
InFigure 1, the point (Mona Lisa's left eye) divides the lines and in the golden ratio.
The triangles,,,, and are golden triangles, because in each of these six trianglesbase andlegs are in the golden ratio to each other.[184][185]
The Golden spiral is shown in Figure 2. It is positioned so that it starts at Mona Lisa's right wrist and touches the top of her head. The tip of her nose then forms the point towards which the spiral converges.[186][187]
There is little evidence to suggest that Leonardo intentionally used the golden ratio in the painting according toWalter Isaacson.[188]
^Some researchers argue that it was common at this time for genteel women to pluck these hairs, as they were considered unsightly.[55][56]
^Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work".[75]
^"... Messer Lunardo Vinci [sic] ... showed His Excellency three pictures, one of a certain Florentine lady done from life at the instance of the late Magnificent, Giuliano de' Medici."[89]
^"Possibly it was another portrait of which no record and no copies exist—Giuliano de' Medici surely had nothing to do with theMona Lisa—the probability is that the secretary, overwhelmed as he must have been at the time, inadvertently dropped the Medici name in the wrong place."[89]
^Uzielli, Luca; Gril, Joseph; Cocchi, Linda; Colmars, Julien; Dionisi Vici, Paolo; et al. (July 2011).Experimental studies on the wooden support of the "Mona Lisa". The Safeguard of Cultural Heritage. A Challenge From the Past for the Europe of Tomorrow. COST strategic workshop. Florence. p. 367. Retrieved1 July 2024.
^According to the geologist and art historian Ann Pizzorusso, the mountains in the background would not be covered in snow because the white and gray color would be typical of the mountains that overlookLecco and its lake.Alberge, Dalya (11 May 2024)."Mystery of where Mona Lisa was painted has been solved, geologist claims".The Guardian.ISSN1756-3224. Retrieved12 May 2024.
^Vasari, Giorgio (1991) [1568].The Lives of the Artists. Oxford World's Classics. Translated by Bondanella, Peter; Bondanella, Julia Conway. Oxford University Press. p. 294.ISBN0-19-283410-X.The eyebrows could not be more natural, for they represent the way the hair grows in the skin—thicker in some places and thinner in others, following the pores of the skin.
^Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. (2005).An Age of Voyages, 1350–1600. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 26.ISBN978-0-19-517672-8.
^Vezzosi, Alessandro (2007). "The Gioconda mystery – Leonardo and the 'common vice of painters'". In Vezzosi; Schwarz; Manetti (eds.).Mona Lisa: Leonardo's hidden face. Polistampa.ISBN978-88-596-0258-3.
^Leonardo, Carmen Bambach, Rachel Stern, and Alison Manges (2003).Leonardo da Vinci, master draftsman. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 234.ISBN1-58839-033-0
^Delieuvin, Vincent; Tallec, Olivier (2017).What's so special about Mona Lisa. Paris: Editions du musée du Louvre.ISBN978-2-35031-564-5.
^De Beatis, Antonio (1979) [1st pub.:1517]. Hale, J.R.; Lindon, J.M.A. (eds.).The travel journal of Antonio de Beatis: Germany, Switzerland, the Low Countries, France and Italy 1517–1518. London, England: Haklyut Society.
^Bacci, Mina (1978) [1963].The Great Artists: Da Vinci. Translated by Tanguy, J. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
^abcWallace, Robert (1972) [1966].The World of Leonardo: 1452–1519. New York: Time-Life Books. pp. 163–64.
^Vasari, Giorgio (1550).Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori. Florence, Italy:Lorenzo Torrentino.
^abBoudin de l'Arche, Gerard (2017).A la recherche de Monna Lisa. Cannes, France: Edition de l'Omnibus.ISBN979-10-95833-01-7.
^"Theft of the Mona Lisa". Stoner Productions via Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Archived fromthe original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved24 October 2009.
^Dalí, Salvador."Self Portrait as Mona Lisa". Mona Lisa Images for a Modern World by Robert A. Baron (from the catalog of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973, p. 195). Archived fromthe original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved24 October 2009.
^Sassoon, Donald (2003).Becoming Mona Lisa. Harvest Books via Amazon Search Inside. p. 251.ISBN978-0-15-602711-3.
^Kemp 2018: "Alessandro Vezzosi, who spoke at the launch inGeneva, andCarlo Pedretti, the great Leonardo specialist, made encouraging but noncommittal statements about the picture being of high quality and worthy of further research."
Chiesa, Angela Ottino della (1967).The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. Penguin Classics of World Art. London:Penguin Books.ISBN978-0-14-008649-2.
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