History Art / TheMonaLisa

!! Tropes

* In the 2011 French film ''L'Apparition de la Joconde'' (''The Appearance of the Gioconda''), a divorced screenwriter is visited by a strange woman named Lisa who pretends to come out of the painting itself. The two of them visit the Louvre to see the painting at one point.

* Again, ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' has the painting on its book cover.

* In the DLC "The da Vinci Disappearance" of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', the unfinished painting can be seen in a cutscene where Ezio Auditore visits Leonardo in Rome, circa 1506. Ezio thinks Leonardo is doing a "decent work" on it, and Leonardo is much more critical of his own work, thinking she is "badly drawn" and that her smile is "overdone and meaningless".

Without a question, the single most famous portrait painting in the Western world, a true icon of artistic excellence, and the image which represents aesthetic beauty, enigma, and mystery. It's believed to have been painted between 1503-1504 by Creator/LeonardoDaVinci, and he maybe worked on and off for a decade until 1517. The painting entered the personal collection of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi King Francis I of France]] and is famously housed in the Louvre Art Museum in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}.

Also known as ''La Gioconda''[[note]]In Italian and French, it's a pun on the feminine form of Giocondo, the surname of Lisa. Gioconda means "the jocund one" or the "happy one"[[/note]], the painting's famous title was coined by art critic Giorgio Vasari (who first [[TropeNamer described]] the flowering of art and culture from the time of Giotto as [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance rinascita]]). Vasari said that the painting was a portrait of "Mona Lisa" which is an Italian shortening of Madonna Lisa (My Lady Lisa[=/=]M'lady Lisa would be the correct English translation) and referred to the subject, Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Of course for many years, there wasn't hard evidence to corroborate this. In 2005, a research found important marginalia in an old book in the University of Heidelberg, written by one Agostino Vespucci (cousin of Amerigo Vespucci, yes [[{{Egopolis}} that]] [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericas one]]). In it Agostino wrote in Latin about:

* MustacheVandalism: Marcel Duchamp codified this with his famous spoof of the painting, where he put a mustache on a postcard of her.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Contrary to modern depictions of the painting with the greenish sky, the brown clothing, and the ochre skin, the colors [[http://www.lumiere-technology.com/Pages/News/news3.htm used to be brighter and more vibrant]], with one critic even described her skin as "rosy and tender". Centuries of varnish, cleaning, and exposure made it as it is today. TrueArtIsAncient indeed.

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* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Contrary to modern depictions of the painting with the greenish sky, the brown clothing, and the ochre skin, the colors used to be brighter and more vibrant, with one critic even described her skin as "rosy". Centuries of varnish, cleaning, and exposure made it is today. TrueArtIsAncient indeed.

* MustacheVandalism: Marcel Duchamp codified this with his famous spoof of the painting, where he put a mustache on her.
* NoBrows: How she is always depicted. She used to have brows, but centuries of clening have removed them.

* WolverinePublicity: Most art critics believe that the effect and aesthetic greatness of the painting is endangered by its constant overexposure. Almost anything to do with Leonardo features the Mona Lisa. For instance, the book cover of ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' and the posters of its film version features the painting even if it doesn't have anything to do with her (the so-called "da vinci" code revolves around ConspiracyTheory surrounding Leonardo's notebooks, scientific research and [[DanBrowned Dan Brown's fantasies]]).

The portrait has long fascinated art historians and theorists for Leonardo's mastery of ''sfumato'' which is an Italian word that refers to the airy, blurred, and fineness of objects. It's been noted that if one looks at the portrait closely, it's very hard to locate the exact beginning of the smile, but on standing back, the effect is quite clear. Indeed the phrase "mona lisa smile" often refers to unique nature of the smile and different observers are convinced that the subject is not actually smiling but gazing plainly while others are certain that she is smiling happily. The size of the painting (77 cm × 53 cm) draws special attention to her expression, which gazes outwards to the observer, almost convincing people that the painting is actually seeing them. This is especially the case when one considers the background which is generally quite flat and vague, with Lisa sitting against a balcony illuminated with a greenish light.

Also known as ''La Gioconda''[[note]]In Italian and French, it's a pun on the feminine form of Giocondo, the surname of Lisa. Gioconda means "the jocund one" or the "happy one"[[/note]], the painting's famous title was coined by art critic Giorgio Vasari (who first [[TropeNamer described]] the flowering of art and culture from the time of Giotto as [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance rinascita]]). Vasari said that the painting was a portrait of "Mona Lisa" which is an Italian shortening of Madonna Lisa (My Lady Lisa would be the appropriate English title) and referred to the subject, Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Of course for many years, there wasn't hard evidence to corroborate this. In 2005, a research found important marginalia in an old book in the University of Heidelberg, written by one Agostino Vespucci (cousin of Amerigo Vespucci, yes [[{{Egopolis}} that]] [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericas one]]). In it Agostino wrote in Latin about:

* ProperLady: The painting is the emblem of the proper lady, and the ability of a woman to moderate and hide her expressions in social situations. As noted by Walter Isaccson in [[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/leonardo-da-vinci-mona-lisa-smile/540636/ his article]] for the November 2017 issue of The Atlanic:
--> '''Walter Isaacson''': "So the world’s most famous smile is inherently and fundamentally elusive, and therein lies Leonardo’s ultimate realization about human nature. His expertise was in depicting the outer manifestation of inner emotions, but here in the Mona Lisa he shows something more important: that we can never fully know another person’s true emotions. They always have a sfumato quality, a veil of mystery."

* ProperLady: The painting is the emblem of the proper lady, and the ability of a woman to moderate and hide her expressions in social situations.

Mona Lisa was an immediate hit and widely influential on the next generation of painters, the likes of Raphael Sanzio especially drew on it for his famous portraits (such as Baldassare Castiglione). Giorgio Vasari, in his landmark book ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' praised it for its realism, but that hasn't stopped legends and concepts cropping up around it. In the 19th Century, it became celebrated for being '''the''' painting, with much ink and works spilled on it, with the art critic Walter Pater lionizing it, and many artists and critics writing weird theories and concepts about who Mona Lisa is. In the 20th Century, it was already considered overexposed by the likes of Marcel Duchamp, the Surrealists, and others. A landmark incident of art-theft, brought new attention to the painting and further cemented its legend. It also has had the effect of making the painting completely inaccessible since its now sealed in a special glass container with heavy guards in the museum, thronged by a gaggle of tourists.

Without a question, the single most famous portrait painting in the Western world, a true icon of artistic excellence, and the image which represents aesthetic beauty, enigma, and mystery. It's believed to have been painted between 1503-1504 by Creator/LeonardoDaVinci, and he maybe worked on and off for a decade until 1517. The painting entered the personal collection of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi King Francis I of France]] and is famously houses in the Louvre Art Museum in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}.

-> ''The presence that rose thus so strangely beside the waters, is expressive of what in the ways of a thousand years men had come to desire...Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity, and how would they be troubled by this beauty, into which the soul with all its maladies has passed! All the thoughts and experience of the world have etched and moulded there...She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave...The fancy of a perpetual life, sweeping together ten thousand experiences, is an old one; and modern philosophy has conceived the idea of humanity as wrought upon by, and summing up in itself all modes of thought and life. Certainly Lady Lisa might stand as the embodiment of the old fancy, the symbol of the modern idea.''

Also known as ''La Gioconda''[[note]]In Italian and French, it's a pun on the feminine form of Giocondo, the surname of Lisa. Gioconda means "the jocund one" or the "happy one"[[/note]], the painting's famous title was coined by art critic Giorgio Vasari (who first [[TropeNamer described]] the flowering of art and culture from the time of Giotto as [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance rinascita]]). Vasari said that the painting was a portrait of "Mona Lisa" which is an Italian shortening of Madonna Lisa (My Lady Lisa would be the appropriate English title) and referred to the subject, Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Of course for many years, there wasn't hard evidence to corroborate this. In 2005, a research found important marginalia in an old book in the University of Heidelberg, written by one Agostino Vespucci (cousin of Amerigo Vespucci, yes [[{{Egopolis}} that]] [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericas one]] [[OneDegreeOfSeparation and an assistant to]] Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli in Florence's government). In it Agostino wrote in Latin about:

Also known as ''La Gioconda''[[note]]In Italian and French, it's a pun on the feminine form of Giocondo, the surname of Lisa. Gioconda means "the jocund one" or the "happy one"[[/note]], the painting's famous title was coined by art critic Giorgio Vasari (who first [[TropeNamer described]] the flowering of art and culture from the time of Giotto as [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance rinascita]]). Vasari said that the painting was a portrait of "Mona Lisa" which is an Italian shortening of Madonna Lisa (My Lady Lisa would be the appropriate English title) and referred to the subject, Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Of course for many years, there wasn't hard evidence to corroborate this. In 2005, a research found important marginalia in an old book in the University of Heidelberg, written by one Agostino Vespucci (cousin of Amerigo Vespucci, yes [[{{Egopolis}} that]] [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericas one]]), [[OneDegreeOfSeparation and an assistant to]] Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli in Florence's government). In it Agostino wrote in Latin about:

Mona Lisa was an immediate hit and widely influential on the next generation of painters, the likes of Raphael Sanzio especially drew on it for his famous portraits (such as Baldassare Castiglione). Giorgio Vasari, in his landmark book ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' praised it for its realism, but that hasn't stopped legends and concepts cropping up around it. In the 19th Century, it became celebrated for being '''the''' painting, with much ink and works spilled on it, with the art critic Walter Pater lionizing it, and many artists and critics writing weird theories and concepts about who Mona Lisa is. In the 20th Century, it was already considered overexposed by the likes of Marcel Duchamp, the Surrealists, and others. A landmark incident of art-theft, brought new attention to the painting and further cemented its legend. It also has had the effect of making the painting completely inaccessible since its now sealed in a special glass container with heavy guards in the museum, thronged by a gaggle of tourists.

Also known as ''La Gioconda''[[note]]In Italian and French, it's a pun on the feminine form of Giocondo, the surname of Lisa. Gioconda means "the jocund one" or the "happy one"[[/note]], the painting's famous title was coined by art critic Giorgio Vasari (who first [[TropeNamer described]] the flowering of art and culture from the time of Giotto as [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance rinascita]]). Vasari said that the painting was a portrait of "Mona Lisa" which is an Italian shortening of Madonna Lisa (My Lady Lisa would be the appropriate English title) and referred to the subject, Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Of course for many years, there wasn't hard evidence to corroborate this. In 2005, a research found important marginalia in an old book in the University of Heidelberg, written by one Agostino Vespucci (cousin of Amerigo Vespucci, yes [[{{Egopolis that]] [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericas one]]), [[OneDegreeOfSeparation and an assistant to]] Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli in Florence's government). In it Agostino wrote in Latin about:

The portrait has long fascinated art historians and theorists for Leonardo's mastery of ''sfumato'' which is an Italian word that refers to the airy, blurred, and fineness of objects. It's been noted that if one looks at the portrait closely, it's very hard to locate the exact beginning of the smile and expression, but on standing back, the effect is quite clear.

Without a question, the single most famous portrait painting in the Western world, a true icon of artistic excellence, and the image which represents aesthetic beauty, enigma, and mystery. It's believed to have been painted between 1503-1504 by Creator/LeonardoDaVinci, and maybe worked on and off for a decade until 1517. The painting entered the personal collection of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi King Francis I of France]] and is famously houses in the Louvre Art Museum in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}.

Also known as ''La Gioconda''[[note]]In Italian and French, it's a pun on the feminine form of Giocondo, the surname of Lisa. Gioconda means "the jocund one" or the "happy one"[[/note]], the painting's famous title was coined by art critic Giorgio Vasari (who first [[TropeNamer described]] the flowering of art and culture from the time of Giotto as [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance rinascita]]). Vasari said that the painting was a portrait of "Mona Lisa" which is an Italian shortening of Madonna Lisa (My Lady Lisa would be the appropriate English title) and referred to the subject, Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Of course for many years, there wasn't hard evidence to corroborate this. In 2005, a research found important marginalia in an old book in the University of Heidelberg, written by one Agostino Vespucci (cousin of Amerigo Vespucci, i.e. [[TropeNamer America's namesake]], and an assistant to Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli in Florence's government). In it Amerigo wrote in Latin about:

As such, most academics believe for a certainty that the subject of this famous portrait is Lisa Gherardini (June 15, 1479 – July 15, 1542) in 2005. Upon her marriage to Francesco del Giocondo, she became Lisa del Giocondo, and Vasari himself identified her as the subject of the painting, but for centuries CommonKnowledge revolved around the mystery of the subject, and what it means when one considers her enigmatic smile.