Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

To: Art Admirers Today we look at the painting the Mona Lisa: its nature, content, background and impact. It is the most famous painting in Western art. But why is it so celebrated ? And is it the greatest painting of all time ?

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

The ‘Mona Lisa’ is the most famous painting in Western art, and probably in the world – well-known, celebrated and widely reproduced. What is it about this painting which has given it this high, almost unique, status ? Some are puzzled why this apparently simple and small painting has attained such celebrity. The answer is partly to do with its artistic qualities, but also its history and cultural prominence. The painting: It’s worth having a good look at the painting before and while reading this note. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa#/media/File:Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg Description: The Mona Lisa is a portrait of an affluent Italian noblewoman, looking directly at the viewer and seated, with landscape in the background. Title: The usual title is Mona Lisa, which means ‘Lady Lisa’. ‘Mona’ is Italian, meaning ‘Madam’ and is a contracted form of ‘madonna’. In Italy, it is generally known by an alternative title ‘La Gioconda’, meaning ‘The Lady Giocondo’. The subject is probably Lisa Gerhardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, though there is some uncertainty. Leonardo’s notes record he was working on a painting of Lisa Gerhardini about 1503 to 1506, and it is assumed that this refers to the Mona Lisa. Value: In 1962 it was valued at $100m ($660m in 2019 value), the highest valuation ever for an art work. There was talk of selling it at one point to ease the national debt, but under French law, the content of public museums is the property of the French people and cannot be sold.

Its creation: It was painted by Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519), probably about 1503 and 1506, though there is some uncertainty about the timing and he may have still been working on it as late 1517. This is one of four paintings about which there is strong consensus that da Vinci is the painter. There is some doubt about all other paintings attributed to him. Only about twelve paintings are attributed to da Vinci. Its history: Da Vinci kept the painting after completion and when he died in 1519, ownership passed to his then patron Francis I of France and then on to various private royal collections, before becoming the property of the French nation, after the French Revolution. From 1797, it was on public view in the Louvre, though briefly kept for private view for Napoleon. In 1911, it was stolen by a workman in The Louvre and not discovered until 1913. Why has it become so famous and celebrated ? The Mona Lisa is certainly a good quality painting (see below), but its fame is also related to its history: -from the 1500s, it was known among artists and critics as an excellent painting - it is a work by da Vinci, regarded as one of the great geniuses of Western culture.

-it became valued by the French people because of its celebrated lineage, linked with Da Vinci, kings, the French Revolution and Napoleon, and its display in the Louvre. The theft and recovery of the painting in 1911 raised it to the level of a national treasure. - press coverage of the missing painting which really raised it to wide attention.

- constant cultural reference and parody in the 20th century has made it very well-known. Reception by the general public: The Mona Lisa has only become well-known and celebrated by the general public in the 20th century. Public art galleries and high quality prints did not emerge until the 1800s, and it was only then that the general public could see major paintings directly. Before then, paintings were generally held in private collections and only seen by a small number, mainly aristocrats and art critics: paintings would have a good reputation but would not be seen by most people. The Mona Lisa was highly regarded among artists and critics from its creation in the early 1500s, but this did not become more widely known until the 1800s. It was the press coverage of its theft in 1911 which catapulted it to wide awareness. Its cultural impact: During the 20th century, The Mona Lisa became so well-known that it became an icon in its own right and started to feature routinely in cultural reviews. Parodies: It started to be parodied, being depicted in comical ways, for example with different hair styles or expressions, or with famous people as the Mona Lisa. Even two major artists – Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol – produced parodies. This showed that the image had become so familiar that it could be taken for granted people knew about it. Also since, like most great works of art, it is essentially serious, it was easy to lampoon it light-heartedly. https://www.google.com/search?q=mona+lisa+parodies&safe=active&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB824GB824&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKic_7g9_sAhVPUMAKHf-FBIAQ_AUoAXoECBUQAw&biw=1504&bih=892&dpr=1.5 Where to see it: The Mona Lisa is on display in The Louvre, the main national French art gallery in Paris. It is the most-viewed exhibit in The Louvre, although it houses many other excellent art works. It is actually quite difficult to see the painting properly at The Louvre, because there is always a crowd of people, many of them taking photos, and the painting is behind bullet-proof glass. In addition, the painting is relatively small and at some distance. Despite all these disadvantages, people still make the effort to go and see it. What are the artistic merits of the Mona Lisa ?: Having set out general information, we come to the most important question: what are the artistic merits of the Mona Lisa ? Overall, it comes down to high quality artistry, enigma and iconic image. There are several factors:

high quality artistry Da Vinci poured great artistic skill into this painting, in three particular respects:

the life-like human expression

the good understanding of human anatomy

the gradual shading (sfumato) seen in the face and clothes, making a very realistic image, without lines

the detailed landscape in the background.

Although essentially a simple picture, there is much detailed work, and da Vinci would have spent a lot of time working on it.

very innovative The Mona Lisa was very innovative for its time, though that is difficult for us to appreciate. Most of all, it has a very naturalistic pose, which requires great technical skill to execute.

enigmatic expression The woman has an enigmatic expression, hovering somewhere between a smile and a neutral expression. Is she cheery or sombre ? Is she friendly or amused ? She looks the viewer directly in the eye – is that a knowing or teasing look, or a simple look ? Because we place such emphasis on how people feel, it is tantalising that the expression is uncertain. (Interestingly, the enigmatic quality seems only really to have been appreciated from the 1800s onwards).

enigmatic character of painting as whole The sense of enigma spreads throughout the whole painting, with the air of calm and dignity, while the shading and dim colours keep things uncertain.

uncertainty of identity of the subject. Despite the wide consensus that the subject was Lisa Gerhardini, the air of enigma can make the viewer wonder: who is she ? There are no clear markers of her rank or locality (unlike many paintings of the time), and her dress is simple, before a landscape. It seems that da Vinci deliberately avoided markers of identity.

iconic image altogether, the Mona Lisa forms an iconic image: simple, striking and distinctive. Although there is a lot of detail, it’s essentially simple: a woman seated, in a dress, before a landscape.

So, altogether, the Mona Lisa encapsulates good quality artistry, along with enigma and an iconic image, so it quite rightly a highly celebrated work.

Other similar da Vinci paintings Only about twelve surviving paintings are attributed to da Vinci. Several are similar in content to the Mona Lisa: portraits of women, either noble women or Biblical figures, often with a rocky landscape in the background (Da Vinci saw old rocks as one of the wonders of creation).

Virgin of the Rocks (two versions): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks

Virgin and Child with St Anne: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_and_Child_with_Saint_Anne_(Leonardo)

Portrait of Ginevra de Benci: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginevra_de%27_Benci

So, is the Mona Lisa the greatest painting ? The Mona Lisa is certainly the most famous painting in Western art. But is it the greatest ? There seems to be no clear consensus about which is the greatest Western painting and, really, it’s not the sort of question art historians probably ask (they would probably regard it as a bit tacky to have top ten lists of greatest paintings – popular culture has best of lists of films and songs, but academics and high art critics tend not to do that). But it is certainly seen as a very good quality painting and will appear in lists of great paintings. People often assume that because the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world that it is the greatest painting of all time, but in fact that is not commonly said: rather it is regarded as one of the great paintings. Its fame is rather due to a combination of its quality, its history and its cultural prominence. So, our Conclusion is: The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world and is one of the great paintings, but not indisputably the best painting ever. Its fame is also partly due to its remarkable history, connected with significant people and events, and its display in the Louvre; and its wide impact as a cultural icon.

Footnote 1: how we view works of art and the role of expectation:

The universal fame and popularity of the Mona Lisa can make it difficult to us to assess its qualities. This is a perennial challenge with the arts: any expectations we have about a work of art will colour how we view it. For example, if someone tells us that a film is excellent/middling/disappointing, we will tend to regard it that way, unless it clearly isn’t. Equally, if a piece of music is widely regarded as a classic, we will come to it with that expectation. On top of this, there may be peer pressure to regard a work in a particular way, such as excellent, fair or poor. It can be very difficult to be objective and open-minded, and aware of one’s own honest response. The Mona Lisa presents this challenge in an extreme form: it is the most celebrated and reproduced painting in the West, and we’ve all known this most of our lives. We’ve seen so many pictures of the Mona Lisa that it has become a familiar image to us. So, it can be difficult for us to look at it with fresh eyes and assess just how good (or not), it is, and what its qualities and character are. Happily, careful examination shows that the Mona Lisa is indeed a very high quality painting. Footnote 2: Leonardo da Vinci as painter Da Vinci is one of the most influential of all painters, yet paradoxically, he completed only a few works. Only about twelve paintings are attributed to him and of them only four with certainty. How do we explain this curious situation ? Da Vinci (1452-1519) was one of the great intellects and geniuses of all time, with wide-ranging interests across anatomy, art (painting, sculpture and sketching) and engineering. As such, he only devoted some of his time to painting. In addition, he was usually more interested in solving intellectual problems in painting, such as how to depict someone or arrange the content, than in actually conducting and completing the painting. As a consequence, he had many uncompleted projects in his career, both in painting and elsewhere. But he did take huge amounts of notes, leaving many notebooks full of ideas and sketches. In terms of painting, da Vinci’s great contribution and influence lies in:

(1) raising the technical skill involved to another level. The number of da Vinci paintings is small, but their technical excellence is outstanding.

(2) raising the perception of painting from craftsmanship to art. In the Middle Ages, painting had been seen as a craft, much like building or making pottery, where the skill was passed on from one generation to another. Da Vinci regarded painting as the highest of arts and helped to change how it is regarded, to what we know today: a means of expressing important ideas, feelings and perceptions.

Reading images of the Mona Lisa: https://www.google.com/search?q=mona+lisa&safe=active&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB824GB824&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiw5rLS_97sAhXRTcAKHa9mDH4Q_AUoAXoECC4QAw&biw=1504&bih=892#imgrc=fnr9-q5vvXmRlM Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/story/why-is-the-mona-lisa-so-famous#:~:text=The%20Mona%20Lisa's%20fame%20is,then%20novel%20three%2Dquarter%20pose. List of most famous paintings of all time (Mona Lisa is at No 1): https://www.timeout.com/newyork/art/top-famous-paintings-in-art-history-ranked Crowd-voted list of greatest paintings of all time (Mona List is at No 17): https://www.ranker.com/list/best-paintings-all-time/ranker-art Kenneth