Mona Lisa mystery #1: Who was Mona Lisa?
Unravel the enigma of the woman behind the world's most famous smile. Delve into the history, theories, and speculations surrounding Mona Lisa's identity. A journey through time, art, and intrigue awaits as we explore the mystery of who Mona Lisa truly was.
The Mona Lisa is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, wife of a Florentine silk merchant.
When she sat for Leonardo da Vinci, in around 1503, she was about 24 years old. Her contrapposto pose – with the body angled away from the viewer, head turned forward – was widely admired and copied by Leonardo’s contemporaries.
The hidden initials
Silvano Vinceti, chairman of Italy’s National Committee of Cultural Heritage, claimed to have discerned letters minutely painted on Mona Lisa’s eyes: L and V (Leonardo da Vinci’s initials) in the right eye, and perhaps C, E or B in the left.
- The Louvre responded that the letters were simply microscopic cracks in the paint.
Mona Lisa mystery #6: Da Vinci’s obsession
Leonardo da Vinci worked on the painting for four years, and possibly at intervals after that, but never signed or dated it.
- The picture went with him when he moved to France, and remained out of sight for almost 200 years until Napoleon ordered it on display in the Louvre Museum.
The Broken Background
The distant, dreamlike vista behind Mona Lisa’s head seems to be higher on the right-hand side than on the left.
Was Mona Lisa unwell?
Many medical experts have diagnosed excess cholesterol in her diet, facial paralysis, deafness, and even ********
- Jungians have seen her as an accomplished representation of the anima, the female archetype that resides in each one of us.
Mona Lisa mystery #4: The bewitching smile
The variability of her smile, the fact that it changes when you look away from it, that makes her seem so alive, so mysterious.
The unknown bridge
The Mona Lisa’s background landscape seems unreal, but the bridge might be one that Leonardo knew.
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