Leonardo's Mona Lisa - Report Example

Leonardo’s Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was one of the most famous engineers, artists and inventors of the Italian Renaissance. As can be seen in his artistic work, Leonardo was one of the artists who were inspired by the use of light and technique in Botticelli’s paintings. In The Baptism of Christ, one can see the careful melding of Verrocchio (Leonardo’s teacher at the time), Leonardo and Botticelli. “Leonardo’s unique style was evident in his colorful painting of the angel on the left side of the painting. The rich and vibrant landscape in this painting is believed to be the contribution of Leonardo and … Botticelli” (Connor, n.d.). Da Vinci revolutionized the artistic world with his explorations in color, light, landscapes and expression. He is considered the master of the sfumato technique as well as chiaroscuro (“The Art of Leonardo”, 2006). Sfumato is a word deriving from the Italian word for smoke and refers to a technique in which translucent layers of color are overlaid to create a perception of depth, volume and form in a painting by blending the colors to such a degree that there is no perceptible transition from one color to the next. Chiaroscuro refers to the subtle shading between light and dark areas that provide a figure with a three dimensional effect. Both of these techniques are used brilliantly in one of Leonardo’s most well-known portraits, the Mona Lisa. “His use of soft lines and colors created the illusion of movement which became the trademark of High Renaissance art” (Connor, n.d.). A close examination of the Mona Lisa provides greater knowledge of her depth, but little clue as to her identity. Summary of Findings The Mona Lisa is a relatively small painting that was created towards the end of Leonardo’s life, being one of only two paintings he kept with him until the day he died. It represents many of the techniques Leonardo was famous for including chiaroscuro and sfumato, but provides very few clues as to what the painting was supposed to represent. The woman featured in the painting gives no clues as to her emotions or even her gender while the background provides no direction as to where the painting might have taken place. Because of this, many throughout history have felt Leonardo hid additional clues to some great secret among the details of the Mona Lisa. In addition, his brilliance in bringing this possibly unreal person to life in a definitely unreal setting inspired numerous artists following him to use these same techniques in their own paintings. While the Mona Lisa defies definition, her image remains a challenging puzzle for present and future generations. Critical Analysis The Mona Lisa was painted on poplar wood using traditional oil paints (“Mona Lisa”, 2006). Its size is actually quite small, measuring only 31 by 21 inches, but its reputation has survived for several reasons. The soft environmental effects Leonardo used in painting the background have served as a superior example of his mastery of the art of sfumato, or atmospheric painting. The landscape remains imaginary and is mismatched, allowing one side to have a higher horizon line than the other. The mysterious woman depicted in the painting is given a small smile that is described in several different ways, making her personality and emotions impossible to determine. Her eyes are created in such a way as to create an illusion that they are following the viewer regardless of where they stand in relation to the painting. Also contributing to her fame is the fact that the Mona Lisa is one of only two paintings that Leonardo kept with him until the day he died (“Mona Lisa”, 2006). Throughout the ages, attempts have been made to fix the location of the portrait or the identity of the sitter. Identification of the woman in the portrait has remained indefinite, although most scholars agree that she is Mona Lisa Giocondo, the young wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant who was a friend of Leonardo’s father (Loadstar, n.d.). This would explain the name of the piece on a far more mundane level than some theorists have proposed, as will be discussed later. There remain several clues within the painting to indicate this was a woman of significant status. These include her fashionable and highly evident practice of plucking away all facial hair, her rich style of dress and the elaborate background behind her, indicating a position of comfort. She also must have experienced some degree of confidence in her social position to have flaunted other social conventions of the time, such as posing in an upright, stiff manner and wearing as many jewels as could be reasonably attached to her person for the sitting (Loadstar, n.d.). While some of these decisions were undoubtedly made by the artist, such as the specific pose in which the lady would sit, it would also require confidence on the part of the woman to agree to such unadorned posterity. Likewise, identification of the location has remained unclear, possibly because Leonardo was making it up as he went along. However, a bridge seen in the background has been identified as one located at Buriano (Arezzo) (Loadstar, n.d.), even though the rest of the surrounding landscape does not seem to offer a precise location affording this view. Generally, the painting has come to represent the ultimate in feminine mystique and beauty. With her indecipherable smile and fantastic environment, the Mona Lisa presents all the desirable aspects of womanhood in the soft folds of her clothing, her gentle facial expression and relaxed and stabilized pose. However, she also remains completely inaccessible. We cannot find her on a map based upon the landscape behind her. We cannot approach her emotions, not being completely sure of the nature of her smile. And we cannot escape the gaze of her eyes, which were painted in such a way as to seem to follow an individual about the room, regardless of where one stands. The smile alone has been the subject of much consideration throughout history. While it remains enigmatic, there are several explanations offered for its charming mystery. The first of these is that this particular smile, with lips partially open and only half a smile showing, was a popular expression for a woman of means in Renaissance Florence. “During this period in history, women were instructed to smile only with one side of their mouths so as to add an air of mystery and elegance” (Loadstar, 2006). Several other paintings created both before and after the Mona Lisa feature this same sort of smile, including paintings created by Leonardo, such as the Last Supper and St. John the Baptist, as well as Leonardo’s mentor Verrochio. Other theories regarding the mystery of the smile have focused on the science of human eye functions, indicating that peripheral vision is the best way to view the smile or that visual noise interrupts our perception of the smile (“Mona Lisa”, 2006). Perhaps what continues to bring the eye back to the smile again and again is the way in which the light plays across the figure’s face, making the smile the bottom arch of a circle that keeps the eye centered in this area. Adding to the mystery, Loadstar (n.d.) indicates that the most expressive areas of the face are the corners of the mouth and eyes, areas that Leonardo intentionally keeps shaded, therefore disguising the true emotions of the woman and contributing to her air of mystery. The success of Leonardo’s approach, both in painting techniques as well as in his change of posture to a more balanced and relaxed pyramidal form is evidence in the great amount of repetition seen in artists following after him. Raphael (1483-1520) took Leonardo’s ideas and further pushed the idea of naturalism with his focus on composition, balance and unity. “His drawing style changed from the tight contours and interior hatching he had learned from Perugino toward the freer, more flowing style of Leonardo. From Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks he evolved a new Madonna type seated in a soft and gentle landscape … He adopted the Mona Lisa format for his portraits, and he also studied closely the sculpture of Michelangelo” (Connor, n.d.). These repetitions did not end with the end of the Renaissance, either. It is believed that this feminine unknown associated with the Mona Lisa has contributed to her fame in the modern era, as surrealists and pop culture have adopted her into their iconography. Marcel Duchamp, for instance, reproduced the Mona Lisa in 1919, providing her with a moustache and goatee and the inscription LHOOQ (which sounds a lot like ‘she has a nice ass’ when read aloud in French) (“Mona Lisa”, 2006). He did this supposedly to imply that the woman in the painting was in a state of sexual excitement and availability but needed a more manly image to appeal to her artist, who was presumed to have been homosexual (“Mona Lisa”, 2006). With the advent of the Dada and Surrealist movements at the beginning of the 20th century, the Mona Lisa experienced a sharp increase in her popularity as these artists celebrated the enigmas Leonardo presented so far ahead of his time. Her image became the subject of numerous artistic explorations and the pop icon of various advertising and other media throughout the 1970s. There are several other possible hidden meanings behind the Mona Lisa that have been tracked throughout the centuries as well, some of which were discussed in the highly popular book The DaVinci Code written by Dan Brown in 2003. In the book, Mona Lisa’s secrets are divulged as a means of finding yet another clue to the secret the characters are trying to decipher. The main character Langdon figures out the need to visit the painting after realizing the connections made between the fleur-de-lis, or flower of Lisa, that was the symbol of Priory of Sion, and the Mona Lisa. The reason this painting would have been important to them emerges when the symbolisms of this painting are understood. Some of these concepts are brought out in a mini-lecture provided in the book itself. “By lowering the countryside on the left, Da Vinci made Mona Lisa look much larger from the left side than from the right side,” Langdon explains (Brown, 2003: 119), the side which was historically linked to the domain of the feminine. In addition, Brown brings out the ideas that the Mona Lisa might be a self-portrait of Leonardo himself; however, it is her ambiguity that is brought out as being her link with the brotherhood. “Mona Lisa is neither male nor female. It carries a subtle message of androgyny. It is a fusing of both” (Brown, 2003: 120), a concept represented in her very name, a combination of the Egyptian male and female deities of fertility. Personal Reflection Having grown up seeing the Mona Lisa as little more than a pop icon, something that existed somewhere between a joke and a half-hearted attempt by the uneducated to appear sophisticated, this investigation has given me a new perspective on Leonardo’s artistry. I have seen the image so often on rugs, purses, wall hangings and posters, among other things, that I can’t remember ever having actually looked at it enough to notice the details that are preserved in many of these recreations. When something is used in as many ways out of context as the Mona Lisa has been, it becomes too easy to overlook the various ways in which she still manages to amaze the viewer and fool the eye. Yet, even here, this investigation has helped to sharpen my understanding of why she became the spokesmodel for the surrealist movement, giving me a greater appreciation for this type of art as well. The mysteries inherent in the portrait also serve to highlight the degree of talent and understanding that it must have taken for Leonardo to achieve the effects he did. This does not include the mere technical achievement in working with the paint, such as the sfumato and chiaroscuro effects that serve to blend and soften features while creating an idea of real three dimensional space, but also in his understanding of human psychology. Basing the design on geometric shapes might have been basic art 101 to him, but the way in which he combines his circles and spheres within the space to keep the eye constantly moving yet also constantly returning to the face and that mysterious little smile without making it seem completely obvious is amazing. His positioning of the woman in a way that made her seem completely relaxed as well as totally balanced also helps the viewer feel more balanced and relaxed even as they study her face and are followed by her eyes as they move around the room. His way of hiding her feelings and identity in a mixture of smoke and shadows is indeed masterful, justifying the popularity and repetition of Leonardo’s work. References “(The) Art of Leonardo da Vinci.” (2006). Gallery Player. Retrieved November 25, 2006 from Brown, Dan. (2003). The Da Vinci Code. New York: Doubleday Books. Connor, Linda. (n.d.). “Leonardo da Vinci: A Portrait of a Man and His Time.” Computer Application in Education. Manitoba, Canada: University of Manitoba. Retrieved November 25, 2006 from Da Vinci, Leonardo. (1505). “Mona Lisa.” The Louvre, Paris. Retrieved November 25, 2006 from “Mona Lisa.” (June 4, 2006). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2006 from . “painting, Western.” (2006). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. Retrieved November 25, 2006 from . 15 Read More