Woman behind Mona Lisa's famed smile revealed

Praxius

Praxius

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Dec 18, 2007
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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080115/mona_lisa_080115/20080115?hub=World

BERLIN -- A researcher has uncovered evidence that apparently confirms the identity of the woman behind the Mona Lisa's iconic smile.

Germany's University of Heidelberg says in a statement that she is Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo.

That according to notes written in the margins of a book by a friend of Leonardo da Vinci as the artist worked on the masterpiece.

The discovery by a Heidelberg University library manuscript expert appears to confirm what has long been suspected.

It is also an answer that has been in plain view for centuries: the Mona Lisa is known as La Gioconda in Italian.

The university says Del Giocondo was first named as the likeness in the painting by Italian writer Giorgio Vasari in 1550, who also dated the work at between 1503 and 1506.
But because Vasari relied on anecdotal evidence, there was always doubts about the identification, and Leonardo is not known to have made any notes about the model's identity himself.

Compounding the mystery, vague references in 1517, 1525 and 1540 point to other identifications.

"One possibility discussed is the presentation of a fictitious likeness of a woman; Leonardo's female ideal,'' the school said.

But the find by Heidelberg library expert Armin Schlechter settles the matter, according to the university.

In a copy of the works of Roman philosopher Cicero, a Florentine official and friend of Leonardo's wrote in the margins that da Vinci was working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. The friend, Agostino Vespucci, dated his notes October 1503, also helping to pin down the exact time Leonardo was working on the painting.

"All doubts as to the identity of the Mona Lisa are eliminated (by) one source,'' the university said.

The discovery was actually made in 2005, but was not widely known until a German radio station last week aired it in a report.
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There you go... we now know who she is... back to our normal lives.
 
#juan

#juan

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Aug 30, 2005
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Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa on a piece of pine wood in the year 1506.
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Never in the history of Art has one painting been so admired. This is due largely to the enigmatic smile, which has caused much speculation.
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Maybe the enigmatic smile is because she is putting one over on us.
 
Praxius

Praxius

Mass'Debater
Dec 18, 2007
10,677
161
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Halifax, NS & Melbourne, VIC
I never liked the smile personally. Kinda looks forced to me.

That and she's not quite my type as physical attraction goes. Hoesntly, I never really liked the painting and never understood why it was so popular. Perhaps in how it was made and the quality which was put into the painting, but other then that, I never seen anything special about it.
 
#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
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Praxius said:
I never liked the smile personally. Kinda looks forced to me.

That and she's not quite my type as physical attraction goes. Hoesntly, I never really liked the painting and never understood why it was so popular. Perhaps in how it was made and the quality which was put into the painting, but other then that, I never seen anything special about it.
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I like all Da Vinci's work. He puts a special quality into every painting that sets him apart from others. A few years back I had a chance to look at the Mona Lisa and other DaVinci works at the Louvre. I came away convinced that he was one of the few real masters. Liking a particular painting is a matter of personal taste.....To each his own.
http://tinyurl.com/3dbbv8
 
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