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What is the most famous painting in the world? I sat and thought about this in my study for a few hours. The only one I could think of was Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. No other painting has had the amount of celebrity that the Mona Lisa has. Sure, you could say it’s all because of Dan Brown’s novel, “The DaVinci Code,” but the Mona Lisa was immensely popular before she graced Dan Brown’s cover. In a way, the mysterious Leonardo was more likely to help sell his books, along with the religious controversy, of course.
Since the Mona Lisa is a painting, painted by a person like any other painting, I’ll first take a look at the artist himself: Leonardo. There aren’t many artists you can call by just one name: Michelangelo, Raphael, and Madonna. Well, going back to Leonardo, to understand how and why the Mona Lisa is so cool I need to start with Leonardo and his life. Leonardo was born on April 14, 1452, to astrologers, that means he is an Aries. I decided to take a closer look at Leonardo’s sign, Aries. I first tried to get an astrological cart on his birthday, because astrological charts are often made for people to find out about themselves and their relationships, when I mentioned the date 1452 to astrologers, they thought it was quite strange. I had to change my tactic, instead I looked up a birth chart for 1492 and got Leonardo’s exact chart. (Weekly Astrology). Once I found this, I was excited, but then I realized that I have no idea what these circles and degrees mean.
Thought this probably isn’t the only website with the Leonardo graphic, I searched for one that went deeper. I found my answers (Indra Report) and they start by saying that someone with this chart loved to study and people liked it, even though they didn’t know exactly why. This makes sense with Leonardo’s dedication to science, inventing all kinds of machines, and his desire to become a great painter by learning anatomy. The report goes on to state that someone with this picture is often misunderstood, not all are artists, and have problems in close relationships. In the history books there is not much about Leonardo’s romantic relationships. The report, which gives a very detailed account, and could be used in an article within itself, summarizes that Leonardo was a philosopher with strong values, also that he is reserved and wants to serve humanity. The report goes into detail about what someone experiences with this painting, from its emotional ups and downs, while interesting, it doesn’t help me explain why the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world.
Leonardo was an illegitimate child, the son of Ser Piero da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant. After asking around, I found out that while being an illegitimate child might have been frowned upon, it wasn’t that rare and wouldn’t have been a real barrier to succeeding in life in Leonardo’s time.
Who exactly is the Mona Lisa, anyway? We may be used to the portrait, but many of us have no idea who the Mona Lisa was. For a while there was even a group that claimed that the Mona Lisa was actually a female version of Leonardo. This may be interesting, but who’s to say that the popularity of the Mona Lisa stems from the world’s overwhelming desire to see men in clothes? Unlikely. The theory that the Mona Lisa is Leonardo has been dismissed by many historians and art scholars. Basically, they just don’t add up or equal each other.
The Mona Lisa is also known as La Gioconda. The Mona Lisa is believed to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy businessman. So that’s where Lisa comes from, but what about Mona? La Mona comes from Madonna, which is a term for “My Lady.” So the Mona Lisa is basically “My Lady Lisa.” The painting began in 1502 and is estimated to have taken four years to complete. It is also argued that the painting may still be unfinished. Leonardo was a perfectionist and rarely completed a painting.
The Mona Lisa was admired and copied by various artists of the time. Lisa’s pose was often imitated by others. The Mona Lisa’s smile may be mysterious but it is in tune with the era in which it was painted. In portraits, women were not encouraged to have a wide smile or appear overly serious. Leonardo entered the middle, like many of his contemporaries, not a full smile, but a hint. Can you imagine the Mona Lisa with a huge toothy smile? This enigmatic smile gives him the appearance of being mysterious and all-knowing.
It was often believed that Leonardo’s greatest painting was the Last Supper, not the Mona Lisa. So what about the Mona Lisa herself as a painting? I decided to take a look at the techniques Leonardo used to make this portrait. The portrait uses a pyramid shape, with her head being the top of the pyramid and her hands the base. The painting was created using Leonardo’s sfumato technique. This technique took a long time. Sfumato was used to create a smoky or hazy look and there were no clear lines. Leonardo is perhaps the greatest master of this technique.
How is the blending technique performed? It is the superimposition of small dots placed over and over again in related tones, giving the appearance that there are no lines. I decided to try the sfumato technique myself. After doing this I realized how dedicated Leonardo must have been, to see the image in its entirety, and take the time to do it the right way, using his technique. No wonder the painting was estimated to take four years to complete!
The Mona Lisa is a stunning painting, especially when you look at the pose of the portrait, a three-quarter view, along with the geometric shape of the subject, a pyramid shape, and the unusual background. Most impressive is Leonardo’s use of the sfumato technique, this is what makes the Mona Lisa the Mona Lisa. The technique creates a mysterious look. Although the Mona Lisa was admired, it took centuries to become what it is now, and it all revolves around a robbery.
The Mona Lisa was stolen on August 21, 1911. It was like someone walking into the Louvre, grabbing it right off the wall, and walking out. The press had a field day and many jokes were made on behalf of Le Louvre. Suddenly, the whole world knew about the Mona Lisa, and it made headlines in newspapers all over Europe. Then everything went silent. The Mona Lisa was thought to be lost forever. It was soon forgotten by pop culture. Three years later, something amazing happened: she was found.
It turns out that Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the Louvre, had stolen the painting. He left the museum with the painting under his arm, hidden under his coat. This woke up the media again. If a lost painting was a sensation, finding it was an even bigger event. This time, the Mona Lisa inspired countries around the world. This attention caused by the theft and return of the painting made people take notice, especially details like the Mona Lisa’s smile. Like many popular recording artists today, the Mona Lisa toured the world.
The Mona Lisa’s popularity might have faded, but it stuck. Why did he stay? Rich in symbolic importance, the Mona Lisa became the unofficial representation of Fine Arts. Some would attack it and others would use it to validate their work. Then there are all the books and movies about her. The Mona Lisa has never gone out of style since the theft.
So, was theft all there was to the Mona Lisa’s popularity? No, the Mona Lisa wouldn’t have become embedded in popular culture just because of the theft and media frenzy surrounding her comeback and world tour. What the robbery did was help the world discover Leonardo and the Mona Lisa. It was then that Leonardo and the Mona Lisa permanently captured and held our attention.
Leonardo was rediscovered as a scientist and a wise teacher. He almost reminds you of Merlin with his beard and his deep set eyes, a true renaissance man. We learned to admire Leonardo for his inventions and for his paintings. He represents for many what we would like to be, a visionary. Mona Lisa herself is remarkable and mysterious. She is not a religious painting, or a painting of royalty, this probably would have limited her popularity. “Mona Lisa” is a person we can relate to, but still can’t fully understand.