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One of the best, most popular and favorite creations of Leonardo da Vinci is Mona Lisa painting.
It is believed that, with somber looks in the yellow and brown dull shades, Mona Lisa could either be the portrait of the painter himself, or of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant.
The technique of Sfurnato is used in this painting, wherein the sharp edges were blurred by blending different colors together, and the eyes and the mouth were shadowed, and due to this technique the expression is not clearly understood. Mona Lisa painting had more depth in it, because of the usage of aerial perspective technique.
Moreover, this technique helped to create a hazy background with lesser clear outlines than the foreground of the painting. The believed smile of the Mona Lisa painting remains an unsolved mystery to everyone.
Mona Lisa's painting even displays there aren't eyebrows as was the custom of then women to shave their eyebrows. Moreover, there isn't any jewelry displayed in the Mona Lisa painting except a black veil on the soft straight hair.
The dress features minute loops in the neckline, and the poser is in comfortable sitting position which weren't the fashion of that period.
The original size of Mona Lisa painting was reduced by cutting off the two side columns, and therefore, the viewer wouldn't be able to find that the poser was sitting on the terrace.
Mona Lisa painting has the story of being sold to the king of France for four thousand crowns, and was transferred to Louvre after French revolution. From there, Napoleon acquired it, and after his banishment, Louvre got it back.
This painting even has the history of being stolen from Louvre. The diary of Antonio de' Beatis made the first written reference about this painting in 1517; however, he doesn't write it as Mona Lisa painting but as a painting of a Florentine lady. |
