Art - Essay Example

Italian painter, inventor, and scientist Leonardo Da Vinci created “Mona Lisa” or “La Gioconda” between 1503 and 1506. The artist painted this piece with oil paint on 77-centimeter by 53-centimeter poplar wood. Florence artists commonly used poplar wood during Da Vinci’s era. Da Vinci’s painting was the first portrait painting to close-up on the subject giving the spectators a half- length view of the woman. The original painting is included in the collection of the Louvre Museum in France for years while many reproductions of the famous painting has been made over the years the fame of the lady with the smile had spread all over the globe and even to the movie world.

Not surprisingly, the artwork was unsigned and undated by Da Vinci as with all the artworks from the Renaissance period. Artists such as Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, and Yasumasa Morimura made several adaptations. In these Modernists adaptations of the smiling woman, they had made a parody out of the poignant mood of the “Mona Lisa.” Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp’s renditions depicted the woman with a mustache while Morimura’s version shows a very pregnant Mona Lisa. These satirical interpretations of the “Mona Lisa” shows the scrutiny of the Modern artists on everything old and traditional and they have chosen Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” the perfect classic art icon that have transcended and defied aging in the art world.

The “Mona Lisa” was not only frequently used in the story lines and was frequently mentioned in films but as well as poems and songs. Some of the films mentioning the famous painting are “Mona Lisa Smile,” “Da Vinci Code,” and “Mona Lisa.” Poetries about the painting include the compilation of poetries, “Mona Poetica,” “To the Mona Lisa of Da Vinci” by David Park Barnitz, and “A Mona Lisa” by Angelina W. Grimke. In songs,