The mystery of the Mona Lisa - who is depicted in the painting? Leonardo da Vinci - Mona Lisa (Lisa Gherardini)

“Mona Lisa” (“La Gioconda”; full name - Portrait of Lady Lisa Giocondo) is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, located in the Louvre (Paris, France), one of the most famous works painting in the world, which is believed to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, painted around 1503-1505.

“Soon it will be four centuries since the Mona Lisa deprives everyone of their sanity who, having seen enough of it, begins to talk about it.” (Gruye, late XIX century). »

Gioconda
Paris. Louvre. 77x53. Tree. 1506-1516

Even the first Italian biographers of Leonardo da Vinci wrote about the place this painting occupied in the artist’s work. Leonardo did not shy away from working on the Mona Lisa, as was the case with many other orders, but, on the contrary, devoted himself to it with some kind of passion. All the time he had left from working on “The Battle of Anghiari” was devoted to her. He spent considerable time on it and, leaving Italy in adulthood, took it with him to France, among some other selected paintings. Da Vinci had a special affection for this portrait, and also thought a lot during the process of its creation; in the “Treatise on Painting” and in those notes on painting techniques that were not included in it, one can find many indications that undoubtedly relate to “La Gioconda” "

"Leonardo da Vinci's Studio" in an 1845 engraving: Gioconda is entertained by jesters and musicians

According to Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), author of biographies Italian artists, who wrote about Leonardo in 1550, 31 years after his death, Mona Lisa (short for Madonna Lisa) was the wife of a Florentine man named Francesco del Giocondo, on whose portrait Leonardo spent 4 years, all leaving it unfinished.

“Leonardo undertook to make a portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife, for Francesco del Giocondo, and, after working on it for four years, he left it unfinished. This work is now in the possession of the French king in Fontainebleau.
This image gives anyone who would like to see to what extent art can imitate nature the opportunity to comprehend this in the easiest way, for it reproduces all the smallest details that the subtlety of painting can convey. Therefore, the eyes have that shine and that moisture that is usually visible in a living person, and around them are all those reddish reflections and hairs that can be depicted only with the greatest subtlety of craftsmanship.
Eyelashes, made in a manner similar to how hair actually grows on the body, where it is thicker and where it is thinner, and located according to the pores of the skin, could not be depicted with more naturalness. The nose, with its lovely holes, pinkish and delicate, seems alive.
The mouth, slightly open, with the edges connected by the scarlet lips, with the physicality of its appearance, seems not like paint, but real flesh. If you look closely, you can see the pulse beating in the hollow of the neck. And truly we can say that this work was written in such a way that it plunges any arrogant artist, no matter who he is, into confusion and fear.
By the way, Leonardo resorted to the following technique: since Mona Lisa was very beautiful, while painting the portrait he held people who played the lyre or sang, and there were always jesters who kept her cheerful and removed the melancholy that she usually conveys. painting performed portraits. Leonardo’s smile in this work is so pleasant that it seems as if one is contemplating a divine rather than a human being; the portrait itself is considered an extraordinary work, for life itself could not be different.”

This drawing from the Hyde Collection in New York may be by Leonardo da Vinci and is a preliminary sketch for a portrait of the Mona Lisa. In this case, it is curious that at first he intended to place a magnificent branch in her hands.

Most likely, Vasari simply added a story about jesters to entertain readers. Vasari's text also contains an accurate description of the eyebrows missing from the painting. This inaccuracy could only arise if the author described the picture from memory or from the stories of others. Alexey Dzhivelegov writes that Vasari’s indication that “the work on the portrait lasted four years is clearly exaggerated: Leonardo did not stay in Florence for so long after returning from Caesar Borgia, and if he had started painting the portrait before leaving for Caesar, Vasari would probably , I would say that he wrote it for five years." The scientist also writes about the erroneous indication of the unfinished nature of the portrait - “the portrait undoubtedly took a long time to paint and was completed, no matter what Vasari said, who in his biography of Leonardo stylized him as an artist who, in principle, could not finish any major work. And not only was it finished, but it is one of Leonardo’s most carefully finished works.”

An interesting fact is that in his description Vasari admires Leonardo's talent for conveying physical phenomena, and not the similarity between the model and the painting. It seems that it was this “physical” feature of the masterpiece that left a deep impression on visitors to the artist’s studio and reached Vasari almost fifty years later.

The painting was well known among art lovers, although Leonardo left Italy for France in 1516, taking the painting with him. According to Italian sources, it has since been in the collection of the French king Francis I, but it remains unclear when and how he acquired it and why Leonardo did not return it to the customer.

It is possible that the artist did not actually finish the painting in Florence, but took it with him when he left in 1516 and applied the final touch in the absence of witnesses who could tell Vasari about it. If so, he completed it shortly before his death in 1519. (In France he lived in Clos Luce near royal castle Amboise).

In 1517, Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona visited Leonardo in his French workshop.
A description of this visit was made by the secretary of Cardinal Antonio de Beatis:
“On October 10, 1517, Monsignor and others like him visited in one of the remote parts of Amboise Messire Leonardo da Vinci, a Florentine, a gray-bearded old man, more than seventy years old, the most excellent artist of our time. He showed His Excellency three pictures: one of a Florentine lady, painted from life at the request of Friar Lorenzo the Magnificent Giuliano de' Medici, another of St. John the Baptist in his youth, and the third of St. Anne with Mary and the Christ Child; all in highest degree wonderful.
From the master himself, due to the fact that he was paralyzed at that time right hand, one could no longer expect new good works.”
According to some researchers, “a certain Florentine lady” means the “Mona Lisa”. It is possible, however, that this was another portrait, from which no evidence or copies have survived, as a result of which Giuliano Medici could not have any connection with the Mona Lisa.

A 19th-century painting by Ingres shows, in an exaggeratedly sentimental manner, the grief of King Francis at Leonardo da Vinci's deathbed

Model identification problem

Vasari, born in 1511, could not see Gioconda with his own eyes and was forced to refer to information given by the anonymous author of the first biography of Leonardo. It is he who writes about the silk merchant Francesco Giocondo, who ordered a portrait of his third wife from the artist. Despite the words of this anonymous contemporary, many researchers doubted the possibility that the Mona Lisa was painted in Florence (1500–1505), since the sophisticated technique may indicate a later creation of the painting. It was also argued that at that time Leonardo was so busy working on “The Battle of Anghiari” that he even refused to accept the Marquis of Mantua Isabella d’Este’s order (however, he had a very difficult relationship with this lady).

The work of a follower of Leonardo is a depiction of a saint. Perhaps her appearance depicts Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan, one of the candidates for the role of Mona Lisa

Francesco del Giocondo, a prominent Florentine popola, at the age of thirty-five in 1495, married for the third time to a young Neapolitan from the noble Gherardini family - Lisa Gherardini, full name Lisa di Antonio Maria di Noldo Gherardini (June 15, 1479 - July 15, 1542, or about 1551 ) . Although Vasari provides information about the identity of the model, there was still uncertainty about her for a long time and many versions were expressed:

According to one of the put forward versions, “Mona Lisa” is a self-portrait of the artist

However, the version about the correspondence of the generally accepted name of the picture to the personality of the model in 2005 is believed to have found final confirmation. Scientists from the University of Heidelberg studied the notes in the margins of the tome, the owner of which was a Florentine official, a personal acquaintance of the artist Agostino Vespucci. In notes in the margins of the book, he compares Leonardo with the famous ancient Greek painter Apelles and notes that “da Vinci is now working on three paintings, one of which is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini.” Thus, the Mona Lisa really turned out to be the wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo - Lisa Gherardini. The painting, as scientists prove in this case, was commissioned by Leonardo for the new home of the young family and to commemorate the birth of their second son, named Andrea.

The copy of the Mona Lisa from the Wallace Collection (Baltimore) was made before the edges of the original were trimmed, and allows the lost columns to be seen

The copy of the Mona Lisa from the Wallace Collection (Baltimore) was made before the edges of the original were trimmed, and allows the lost columns to be seen

The rectangular painting depicts a woman in dark clothes, turning half-turned. She sits in a chair with her hands clasped together, one hand resting on its armrest and the other on top, turning in the chair almost to face the viewer. Parted, smoothly and flatly lying hair, visible through a transparent veil draped over it (according to some assumptions - an attribute of widowhood), falls on the shoulders in two thin, slightly wavy strands. A green dress in thin ruffles, with yellow pleated sleeves, cut out on a white low chest. The head is slightly turned.

Art critic Boris Vipper, describing the picture, points out that traces of Quattrocento fashion are noticeable in the face of Mona Lisa: her eyebrows and hair on the top of her forehead are shaved.

Fragment of the Mona Lisa with the remains of the column base

The lower edge of the painting cuts off the second half of her body, so the portrait is almost half-length. The chair in which the model sits stands on a balcony or loggia, the parapet line of which is visible behind her elbows. It is believed that earlier picture could have been wider and accommodated two side columns of the loggia, of which at the moment there remain two column bases, fragments of which are visible along the edges of the parapet.

The loggia overlooks a desolate wilderness with meandering streams and a lake surrounded by snowy mountains, which extends to the high horizon line behind the figure.

“Mona Lisa is represented sitting in a chair against the backdrop of a landscape, and the very juxtaposition of her figure, very close to the viewer, with the landscape visible from afar, like a huge mountain, imparts extraordinary grandeur to the image. The same impression is promoted by the contrast of the heightened plastic tactility of the figure and its smooth, generalized silhouette with a vision-like landscape stretching into the foggy distance with bizarre rocks and water channels winding among them.”

Composition
Mona Lisa depth.jpg

The portrait of Gioconda is one of the best examples of the portrait genre of the Italian High Renaissance.

Boris Vipper writes that, despite traces of the Quattrocento, “with her clothes with a small cutout on the chest and with sleeves in loose folds, just as with her upright posture, slight turn of the body and soft gesture of the hands, Mona Lisa entirely belongs to the era of the classical style.”

Mikhail Alpatov points out that “Gioconda is perfectly inscribed in a strictly proportional rectangle, her half-figure forms something whole, her folded hands give her image completeness. Now, of course, there could be no question of the fanciful curls of the early “Annunciation.”
However, no matter how softened all the contours are, the wavy strand of Mona Lisa’s hair is in tune with the transparent veil, and the hanging fabric thrown over her shoulder finds an echo in the smooth windings of the distant road.
In all this, Leonardo demonstrates his ability to create according to the laws of rhythm and harmony.”
Current state

Macro photography allows you to see a large number of craquelures (cracks) on the surface of the painting.

“Mona Lisa” became very dark, which is considered the result of its author’s inherent tendency to experiment with paints, due to which the fresco “ last supper“In general, she practically died. The artist’s contemporaries, however, managed to express their admiration not only for the composition, design and play of light and shade, but also for the color of the work. It is suggested, for example, that the sleeves of her dress may have originally been red, as can be seen from the copy of the painting from the Prado.

The current condition of the painting is quite poor, which is why the Louvre staff announced that they would no longer give it to exhibitions:
“Cracks have formed in the painting, and one of them stops just millimeters above Mona Lisa’s head.”

Analysis
Technique

As Dzhivelegov notes, by the time of the creation of the Mona Lisa, Leonardo’s mastery “had already entered a phase of such maturity, when all formal tasks of a compositional and other nature were posed and solved, when Leonardo began to think that only the last, most difficult tasks artistic technique deserve to be addressed. And when he found a model in the person of Mona Lisa that satisfied his needs, he tried to solve some of the highest and most difficult problems of painting technique that he had not yet solved. He wanted, with the help of techniques that he had already developed and tested before, especially with the help of his famous sfumato, which had previously given extraordinary effects, to do more than he had done before: to create a living face of a living person and so reproduce the features and expression of this face so that with them the inner world of man was fully revealed.”

Landscape behind the Mona Lisa

Boris Vipper asks the question “by what means was this spirituality achieved, this undying spark of consciousness in the image of the Mona Lisa, then two main means should be named.
One is Leonard’s wonderful sfumato. No wonder Leonardo liked to say that “modeling is the soul of painting.” It is sfumato that creates Gioconda’s moist gaze, her smile as light as the wind, and the incomparable caressing softness of the touch of her hands.”
Sfumato is a subtle haze that envelops the face and figure, softening contours and shadows. For this purpose, Leonardo recommended placing, as he puts it, “a kind of fog” between the light source and the bodies.

Rothenberg writes that “Leonardo managed to introduce into his creation that degree of generalization that allows him to be considered as an image of the Renaissance man as a whole. This high degree of generalization is reflected in all the elements of the pictorial language of the painting, in its individual motifs - in the way the light, transparent veil, covering the head and shoulders of Mona Lisa, unites the carefully drawn strands of hair and small folds of the dress into an overall smooth outline; it is palpable in the incomparable softness of the modeling of the face (from which, according to the fashion of that time, the eyebrows were removed) and beautiful, sleek hands.”

Alpatov adds that “in the softly melting haze enveloping the face and figure, Leonardo managed to make one feel the limitless variability of human facial expressions. Although Gioconda's eyes look attentively and calmly at the viewer, thanks to the shading of her eye sockets, one might think that they are frowning slightly; her lips are compressed, but near their corners there are subtle shadows that make you believe that every minute they will open, smile, and speak.
The very contrast between her gaze and the half-smile on her lips gives the idea of ​​the inconsistency of her experiences. (...) Leonardo worked on it for several years, ensuring that not a single sharp stroke, not a single angular contour remained in the picture; and although the edges of objects in it are clearly perceptible, they all dissolve in the subtlest transitions from half-shadows to half-lights.”

Scenery

Art critics emphasize the organic way with which the artist combined the portrait characteristics of a person with a landscape full of a special mood, and how much this increased the dignity of the portrait.

An early copy of the Mona Lisa from the Prado shows how much a portrait image loses when placed against a dark, neutral background

Whipper considers landscape to be the second medium that creates the spirituality of a painting: “The second medium is the relationship between figure and background. The fantastic, rocky landscape, as if seen through sea water, in the portrait of Mona Lisa has some other reality than her figure itself. The Mona Lisa has the reality of life, the landscape has the reality of a dream. Thanks to this contrast, Mona Lisa seems so incredibly close and tangible, and we perceive the landscape as the radiation of her own dreams.”

The appearance and mental structure of a particular person are conveyed by him with unprecedented syntheticity.
This impersonal psychologism corresponds to the cosmic abstraction of the landscape, almost completely devoid of any signs of human presence. In smoky chiaroscuro, not only all the outlines of the figure and landscape and all the color tones are softened. In the subtle transitions from light to shadow, almost imperceptible to the eye, in the vibration of Leonard’s “sfumato”, all definiteness of individuality and its psychological state softens to the limit, melts and is ready to disappear. (...) “La Gioconda” is not a portrait. This is a visible symbol of the very life of man and nature, united into one whole and presented abstractly from its individual concrete form. But behind the barely noticeable movement, which, like light ripples, runs across the motionless surface of this harmonious world, one can discern all the richness of the possibilities of physical and spiritual existence.”

“Mona Lisa” is designed in golden brown and reddish tones in the foreground and emerald green tones in the background. “Transparent, like glass, colors form an alloy, as if created not by a human hand, but by that inner strength matter, which from a solution gives birth to crystals of perfect shape.”
Like many of Leonardo's works, this work has darkened over time, and its color relationships have changed somewhat, but even now the thoughtful comparisons in the tones of carnation and clothing and their general contrast with the bluish-green, “underwater” tone of the landscape are clearly perceived.

Art historians note that the portrait of Mona Lisa was a decisive step in the development of Renaissance portraiture. Rotenber writes: “although the Quattrocento painters left a number of significant works of this genre, their achievements in portraiture were, so to speak, disproportionate to the achievements in the main painting genres - in compositions on religious and mythological themes. The inequality of the portrait genre was already reflected in the very “iconography” of portrait images.
“Donna Nuda” (that is, “Naked Donna”). Unknown artist, late 16th century, Hermitage

In his pioneering work, Leonardo brought main center heaviness on the portrait's face. At the same time he used his hands, like powerful tool psychological characteristics. By making the portrait generational in format, the artist was able to demonstrate a wider range of artistic techniques. And the most important thing in the figurative structure of a portrait is the subordination of all details to the guiding idea. “The head and hands are the undoubted center of the picture, to which the rest of its elements are sacrificed. The fabulous landscape seems to shine through the sea waters, it seems so distant and intangible. His the main objective- do not distract the viewer’s attention from the face. And the same role is intended to be performed by the garment, which falls into the smallest folds. Leonardo deliberately avoids heavy draperies, which could obscure the expressiveness of his hands and face. Thus, he forces the latter to perform with special force, the greater the more modest and neutral the landscape and attire, likened to a quiet, barely noticeable accompaniment.”

Leonardo's students and followers created numerous replicas of the Mona Lisa. Some of them (from the Vernon collection, USA; from the Walter collection, Baltimore, USA; and also for some time the Isleworth Mona Lisa, Switzerland) are considered authentic by their owners, and the painting in the Louvre is considered a copy. There is also the “nude Mona Lisa” iconography, represented by several variants (“Beautiful Gabrielle”, “Monna Vanna”, the Hermitage “Donna Nuda”), apparently made by the artist’s own students. A large number of them gave rise to an unprovable version that there was a version of the nude Mona Lisa, painted by the master himself.

Reputation of the painting

"Mona Lisa" behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre and museum visitors crowding nearby

Despite the fact that the Mona Lisa was highly appreciated by the artist’s contemporaries, its reputation subsequently faded. The painting was not particularly remembered until the mid-19th century, when artists close to the Symbolist movement began to praise it, associating it with their ideas about feminine mystique. Critic Walter Pater expressed his opinion in his 1867 essay on da Vinci, describing the figure in the painting as a kind of mythical embodiment of the eternal feminine, who is "older than the rocks between which she sits" and who has "died many times and learned the secrets of the afterlife." .

The painting’s further rise in fame was associated with its mysterious disappearance at the beginning of the 20th century and its happy return to the museum several years later (see below, section Theft), thanks to which it never left the pages of newspapers.

A contemporary of her adventure, critic Abram Efros wrote: “... the museum guard, who now does not leave a single step from the painting, since its return to the Louvre after the abduction in 1911, is guarding not a portrait of Francesca del Giocondo’s wife, but an image of some kind of semi-human, a half-snake creature, either smiling or gloomy, dominating the cold, bare, rocky space spread out behind its back.”

"Mona Lisa" today is one of the most famous paintings Western European art. Its resounding reputation is associated not only with its high artistic merits, but also with the atmosphere of mystery surrounding this work.

Everyone knows what an unsolvable riddle the Mona Lisa has been asking for fans who crowd in front of her image for almost four hundred years now. Never before has an artist expressed the essence of femininity (I quote lines written by a sophisticated writer hiding behind the pseudonym of Pierre Corlet): “Tenderness and bestiality, modesty and hidden voluptuousness, the great secret of the heart that curbs itself, the reasoning mind, a personality closed in itself, abandoning others can only contemplate its brilliance.” (Eugene Muntz).

One of the mysteries is related to the deep affection that the author felt for this work. Various explanations were offered, for example, a romantic one: Leonardo fell in love with Mona Lisa and deliberately delayed work in order to stay longer with her, and she teased him with her mysterious smile and brought him to the greatest creative ecstasies. This version is considered simply speculation. Dzhivelegov believes that this attachment is due to the fact that he found in her the point of application for many of his creative quests.

Smile of Gioconda

Leonardo da Vinci. "John the Baptist". 1513-1516, Louvre. This picture also has its own mystery: why is John the Baptist smiling and pointing upward?

Leonardo da Vinci. "Saint Anne with the Madonna and Child Christ" (fragment), c. 1510, Louvre.

The Mona Lisa's smile is one of the most famous mysteries of the painting. This slight wandering smile is found in many works by both the master himself and the Leonardesques, but it was in the Mona Lisa that it reached its perfection.

“The viewer is especially fascinated by the demonic charm of this smile. Hundreds of poets and writers have written about this woman, who seems to be either smiling seductively or frozen, looking coldly and soullessly into space, and no one unraveled her smile, no one interpreted her thoughts. Everything, even the landscape, is mysterious, like a dream, tremulous, like a pre-storm haze of sensuality (Muter). »

Grashchenkov writes: “The endless variety of human feelings and desires, opposing passions and thoughts, smoothed out and fused together, resonates in the harmoniously dispassionate appearance of Gioconda only with the uncertainty of her smile, barely emerging and disappearing.
This meaningless fleeting movement of the corners of her mouth, like a distant echo merged into one sound, brings to us from the boundless distance the colorful polyphony of a person’s spiritual life.”

Art critic Rotenberg believes that “there are few portraits in all of world art that are equal to the Mona Lisa in terms of power of expression.” human personality, embodied in the unity of character and intellect. It is precisely the extraordinary intellectual charge of Leonardo’s portrait that distinguishes it from the portrait images of the Quattrocento. This feature of his is perceived all the more acutely because it relates to portrait of a woman, in which the character of the model was previously revealed in a completely different, predominantly lyrical, figurative tonality.
The feeling of strength emanating from the Mona Lisa is an organic combination of inner composure and a sense of personal freedom, the spiritual harmony of a person, based on his consciousness of his own significance. And her smile itself does not at all express superiority or disdain; it is perceived as the result of calm self-confidence and complete self-control.”

Boris Vipper points out that the above-mentioned lack of eyebrows and shaved forehead perhaps involuntarily enhances the strange mystery in her facial expression. He further writes about the power of the painting: “If we ask ourselves what is the great attractive force“Mona Lisa”, its truly incomparable hypnotic effect, then there can only be one answer - in its spirituality. The most ingenious and the most opposite interpretations were put into the smile of “Mona Lisa”. They wanted to read pride and tenderness, sensuality and coquetry, cruelty and modesty in it.
The mistake was, firstly, in the fact that they were looking for individual, subjective spiritual properties at all costs in the image of the Mona Lisa, while there is no doubt that Leonardo was striving for typical spirituality.
Secondly, and this is perhaps even more important, they tried to attribute emotional content to the spirituality of Mona Lisa, whereas in fact it has intellectual roots.
The miracle of the Mona Lisa lies precisely in the fact that she thinks; that, standing in front of a yellowed, cracked board, we irresistibly sense the presence of a being endowed with intelligence, a being with whom we can talk and from whom we can expect an answer.”

Lazarev analyzed it as an art scientist: “This smile is not so much an individual feature of Mona Lisa as a typical formula for psychological revitalization, a formula that runs like a red thread through all of Leonardo’s youthful images, a formula that later turned, in the hands of his students and followers, into traditional stamp. Like the proportions of Leonard's figures, it is built on the finest mathematical measurements, on strict consideration of the expressive values ​​of individual parts of the face. And for all that, this smile is absolutely natural, and this is precisely the power of its charm. It takes away everything hard, tense, and frozen from the face; it turns it into a mirror of vague, indefinite spiritual experiences; in its elusive lightness it can only be compared to a ripple running through water.”

Mona Lisa detail mouth.jpg

Her analysis attracted the attention of not only art historians, but also psychologists. Sigmund Freud writes:
“Whoever imagines Leonardo’s paintings is reminded of a strange, captivating and mysterious smile hidden on his lips female images. The smile frozen on his elongated, quivering lips became characteristic of him and is most often called “Leonardian.”
In the peculiarly beautiful appearance of the Florentine Mona Lisa del Gioconda, she most captivates and plunges the viewer into confusion. This smile required one interpretation, but found a variety of interpretations, none of which satisfied. (...)
The guess that two different elements were combined in Mona Lisa's smile was born among many critics. Therefore, in the expression on the face of the beautiful Florentine, they saw the most perfect image of the antagonism that governs love life women, restraint and seduction, sacrificial tenderness and recklessly demanding sensuality, absorbing a man as something extraneous. (...) Leonardo, in the person of Mona Lisa, managed to reproduce the double meaning of her smile, the promise of boundless tenderness and ominous threat.”

16th century copy located in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg

The viewer is especially fascinated by the demonic charm of this smile. Hundreds of poets and writers have written about this woman, who seems to be either smiling seductively or frozen, looking coldly and soullessly into space, and no one unraveled her smile, no one interpreted her thoughts. Everything, even the landscape, is mysterious, like a dream, tremulous, like a pre-storm haze of sensuality (Muter).

The philosopher A.F. Losev writes sharply negatively about it:
... "Mona Lisa" with her "demonic smile". “After all, one has only to look closely at Gioconda’s eyes and one can easily notice that she, in fact, does not smile at all. This is not a smile, but a predatory face with cold eyes and a clear knowledge of the helplessness of the victim whom Gioconda wants to master and in which, in addition to weakness, she also counts on powerlessness in the face of the bad feeling that has taken possession of her.”

The discoverer of the term microexpression, psychologist Paul Ekman (the prototype of Dr. Cal Lightman from the television series Lie to Me), writes about the facial expression of Mona Lisa, analyzing it from the point of view of his knowledge of human facial expressions: “the other two types [of smiles] combine a sincere smile with a characteristic expression in the eyes. A flirting smile, although at the same time the seducer averts his eyes away from the object of his interest, in order to then again cast a sly glance at him, which again instantly looks away as soon as it is noticed. The unusual impression of the famous Mona Lisa partly lies in the fact that Leonardo catches his nature precisely at the moment of this playful movement; turning her head in one direction, she looks in the other - at the object of her interest. In life, this facial expression is fleeting - a furtive glance lasts no more than a moment.”

History of the painting in modern times

At the time of his death in 1525, Leonardo's assistant (and possibly lover) named Salai was in possession, according to references in his personal papers, of a portrait of a woman entitled "La Gioconda" (quadro de una dona aretata), which had been bequeathed to him by his teacher. Salai left the painting to his sisters who lived in Milan. It remains a mystery how, in this case, the portrait got from Milan back to France. It is also unknown who and when exactly trimmed the edges of the painting with columns, which, according to most researchers, based on comparison with other portraits, existed in the original version. Unlike another cropped work by Leonardo - "Portrait of Ginevra Benci", the lower part of which was cropped because it was damaged by water or fire, in in this case The reasons were most likely of a compositional nature. There is a version that Leonardo da Vinci himself did it.

Crowd in the Louvre near the painting, our days

King Francis I is believed to have bought the painting from Salai's heirs (for 4,000 ecus) and kept it in his castle of Fontainebleau, where it remained until the time of Louis XIV. The latter transported her to Palace of Versailles, and after the French Revolution it ended up in the Louvre. Napoleon hung the portrait in his bedroom at the Tuileries Palace, then it returned to the museum.

During the Second World War, for safety reasons, the painting was transported from the Louvre to the Amboise castle, then to the Loc-Dieu Abbey, and finally to the Ingres Museum in Monataban, from where it was safely returned to its place after the victory.

In the twentieth century, the painting almost never left the Louvre, visiting the USA in 1963 and Japan in 1974. On the way from Japan to France, the painting was exhibited at the Museum. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow. The trips only cemented the success and fame of the film.

1911 Empty wall where the Mona Lisa hung

The Mona Lisa would have been known only to connoisseurs for a long time visual arts, if not for her exceptional story, which ensured her worldwide fame.

Vincenzo Perugia. Leaf from a criminal case.

On August 21, 1911, the painting was stolen by an employee of the Louvre, Italian mirror master Vincenzo Peruggia. The purpose of this abduction is not clear. Perhaps Perugia wanted to return La Gioconda to its historical homeland, believing that the French had “kidnapped” it and forgetting that Leonardo himself brought the painting to France. The police search was unsuccessful. The poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested on suspicion of committing a crime and later released. Pablo Picasso was also under suspicion. The painting was found only two years later

Portrait of a lady Lisa del Giocondo(Ritratto di Monna Lisa del Giocondo) was written by Leonardo da Vinci around 1503-1519. It is believed that this is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a silk merchant from Florence. del Giocondo translated from Italian sounds like cheerful or playful. According to the writings of biographer Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo da Vinci painted this portrait for 4 years, but left it unfinished (however, modern researchers claim that the work is completely finished and even carefully completed). The portrait is made on a poplar board measuring 76.8x53 cm. Currently hanging in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Mona Lisa or Mona Lisa - the painting of the great artist is the most mysterious work of painting today. There are so many mysteries and secrets associated with it that even the most experienced art critics sometimes do not know what is actually drawn in this picture. Who is Gioconda, what goals did da Vinci pursue when he created this painting? If you believe the same biographers, Leonardo, at the time he painted this picture kept around him various musicians and jesters who entertained the model and created special atmosphere, that’s why the canvas turned out to be so exquisite and unlike all other creations of this author.

One of the mysteries is that under ultraviolet and infrared radiation this picture looks completely different. The original Mona Lisa, which was dug up under a layer of paint using a special camera, was different from the one that visitors now see in the museum. She had a wider face, a more emphatic smile and different eyes.

Another secret is that Mona Lisa has no eyebrows and eyelashes. There is an assumption that during the Renaissance, most women looked like this and this was a tribute to the fashion of that time. Women of the 15th and 16th centuries got rid of any facial hair. Others claim that the eyebrows and eyelashes were actually there, but faded over time. A certain researcher Cott, who is studying and thoroughly researching this work of the great master, has debunked many myths about Mona Lisa. For example, the question once arose about the hand of Mona Lisa. From the outside, even an inexperienced person can see that the hand is bent in a very bizarre way. However, Cott discovered the smoothed features of a cape on his hand, the colors of which faded over time and it began to seem that the hand itself had a strange unnatural shape. Thus, we can safely say that Gioconda at the time of her writing was very different from what we see now. Time has mercilessly distorted the picture to such an extent that many are still looking for secrets of the Mona Lisa that simply do not exist.

It is also interesting that after painting the portrait of Mona Lisa, da Vinci kept it with him, and then it went into the collection of the French king Francis I. Why, after completing the work, the artist did not give it to the customer remains unknown. Besides, in different time Various assumptions have been put forward as to whether Lisa del Giocondo is correctly considered the Mona Lisa. Women such as Caterina Sforza, daughter of the Duke of Milan, are still vying for her role; Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan; Cecilia Gallerani aka Lady with an Ermine; Constanza d'Avalos, also called the Merry or La Gioconda; Pacifica Brandano is the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici; Isabela Galanda; A young man in women's clothing; Self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci himself. In the end, many are inclined to believe that the artist simply depicted the image ideal woman what she is in his opinion. As you can see, there are a lot of assumptions and they all have the right to life. And yet, researchers are almost one hundred percent sure that the Mona Lisa is Lisa del Giocondo, as they found a recording of one Florentine official who wrote: “Now da Vinci is working on three paintings, one of which is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini.”

The greatness of the painting, which is conveyed to the viewer, is also the result of the fact that the artist first painted the landscape and then the model itself on top of it. As a result (whether it was planned or happened by chance, it is unknown) the figure of Gioconda was very close to the viewer, which emphasizes its significance. The perception is also influenced by the existing contrast between the gentle curves and colors of the woman and the bizarre landscape behind, as if fabulous, spiritual, with the sfumato inherent to the master. Thus, he combined reality and fairy tale, reality and dream into one whole, which creates an incredible feeling for everyone who looks at the canvas. By the time of painting this painting, Leonardo da Vinci had achieved such skill that he created a masterpiece. The painting acts as hypnosis, the secrets of painting elusive to the eye, mysterious transitions from light to shadow, attracting demonic smile, act on a person like a boa constrictor looking at a rabbit.

The secret of Gioconda is linked in the most precise mathematical calculation Leonardo, who by that time had developed the secret of the painting formula. With the help of this formula and precise mathematical calculations, a work of terrifying power came out of the master’s brush. The power of her charm is comparable to something alive and animate, and not drawn on a board. There is a feeling that the artist painted Gioconda in an instant, as if clicking a camera, and did not draw her for 4 years. In an instant, he caught her sly glance, a fleeting smile, one single movement that was embodied in the picture. How the great master of painting managed to figure it out is not destined to be revealed to anyone and will remain a secret forever.

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Probably there is no more in the world famous painting, how . It is popular in all countries, widely replicated as a recognizable and catchy image. Over the course of its four-hundred-year history, “Mona Lisa” has been both a trademark and a victim of kidnapping, was mentioned in a Nat King Cola song, her name has been quoted in tens of thousands of printed publications and films, and the expression “Mona Lisa’s smile” has become a stable phrase, even a cliched phrase .

The history of the creation of the painting "Mona Lisa"

This small work of art, measuring 76.8 x 53 cm, is painted in oil on a poplar wood board. The painting is located in, where it has a special room named after it. It was brought to the place by the artist himself, who moved here under the patronage of King Francis I.

Myths and speculation

Nowadays, most people are interested in the notorious mystery of Mona Lisa's smile. She is just a hint of a smile, a slight movement of the corners of her lips. Perhaps the decoding of the smile is contained in the very title of the painting - La Gioconda in Italian can mean “cheerful”. Maybe all these centuries the Mona Lisa is simply laughing at our attempts to unravel its mystery?

This type of smile is characteristic of many of the artist’s paintings, for example, a canvas depicting John the Baptist or numerous Madonnas (,).

For many years, identification of the identity of the prototype was of interest, until documents were found confirming the reality of existence the real Lisa Gherardini. However, there are claims that the painting is an encrypted self-portrait of da Vinci, who always had unconventional inclinations, or even an image of his young student and lover, nicknamed Salai - the Little Devil. The latter assumption is supported by such evidence as the fact that it was Salai who turned out to be Leonardo’s heir and the first owner of the La Gioconda. In addition, the name "Mona Lisa" may be an anagram of "Mon Salai" (my Salai in French).

Of great interest to conspiracy theorists and supporters of the idea that da Vinci belonged to the series secret societies also represents a mysterious landscape in the background. It depicts a strange terrain that has not been accurately identified to this day. It was painted, like the whole picture, in the sfumato technique, but in a different color scheme, bluish-greenish, and asymmetrical - Right side does not match the left one. In addition, recently there have been allegations that the artist encrypted some letters in the eyes of Gioconda, and numbers in the image of the bridge.

Just a painting or a masterpiece

Most people take the mass point of view and treat the painting as a mysterious painting, a masterpiece sent to us from the past by one of the most brilliant and talented masters in the history of art. The minority sees the Mona Lisa as an unusually beautiful and talented painting. Its mystery lies only in the fact that we attribute to it those features that we ourselves want to see.

Fortunately, the most limited group of people are those who are outraged and irritated by this picture. Yes, this happens, otherwise how can one explain at least four cases of vandalism, due to which the canvas is now protected by thick bulletproof glass.

Be that as it may, “La Gioconda” continues to exist and delight new generations of viewers with its mysterious half-smile and complex unsolved mysteries. Perhaps in the future someone will find answers to existing questions. Or he will create new legends.

For decades, historians, art critics, journalists and simply interested people have been arguing about the mysteries of the Mona Lisa. What is the secret of her smile? Who is really depicted in Leonardo's portrait? Over 8 million visitors come to the Louvre every year to admire its creations.

So how did this modestly dressed woman with a light, subtle smile take pride of place on the podium among the legendary creations of other great artists?

Well-deserved glory

Let's first forget that Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa - brilliant creation artist. What do we see in front of us? An already middle-aged, modestly dressed woman looks at us with a barely noticeable smile on her face. She's not a beauty, but there's something about her that catches your eye. Fame is an amazing phenomenon. No amount of advertising will help promote a mediocre picture, but La Gioconda business card famous Florentine, known throughout the world.

The quality of the painting is impressive; it brings together all the achievements of the Renaissance at the highest level. Here the landscape is subtly combined with the portrait, the gaze is directed at the viewer, the famous “counterposto” pose, the pyramidal composition... The technique itself is worthy of admiration: each of the thinnest layers was applied to the other only after the previous one had dried. Using the “sfumato” technique, Leonardo achieved a melting image of objects; with his brush he conveyed the outlines of air, resurrecting the play of light and shadow. This is the main value of da Vinci’s creation “Mona Lisa”.

Universal recognition

It was the artists who were the first fans of Leonardo da Vinci's La Gioconda. 16th century painting is literally filled with traces of the influence of the Mona Lisa. Take, for example, the great Raphael: he seemed to be sick of Leonardo’s painting, the features of Gioconda can be caught in the portrait of a Florentine, in “The Lady with the Unicorn”, and what is most surprising, even in portrait of a man Baldasara Castiglione. Leonardo, without knowing it, created a visual aid for his followers, who discovered a lot of new things in painting, taking the portrait of the Mona Lisa as a basis.

The artist and art critic was the first to translate the glory of “La Gioconda” into words. In his “Biographies of Famous Painters...” he called the portrait more divine than human, and moreover, he gave such an assessment without ever seeing the painting in person. The author only expressed everyone’s opinion, thus giving “La Gioconda” a high reputation in professional circles.

Who posed for the portrait?

The only confirmation of how the creation of the portrait went is the words of Giorgio Vasavi, who claims that the painting depicts the wife of Francesco Giocondo, a Florentine tycoon, the 25-year-old Mona Lisa. He says that while da Vinci was painting the portrait, the girls around them were constantly playing the lyre and singing, and the court jesters maintained a good mood, which is why Mona Lisa’s smile is so gentle and pleasant.

But there is plenty of evidence that Giorgio was wrong. Firstly, the girl’s head is covered with a mourning widow’s veil, and Francesco Giocondo lived a long life. Secondly, why didn’t Leonardo give the portrait to the customer?

It is known that the artist did not part with the portrait until his death, although he was offered a lot of money for those times. In 1925, art historians suggested that the portrait belongs to Giuliano Medici’s mistress, the widow Constancia d’Avalos. Later, Carlo Pedretti put forward another possibility: it could be Pacifica Bandano, another of Pedretti's mistresses. She was the widow of a Spanish nobleman, was well educated, had a cheerful disposition and graced any company with her presence.

Who is the real Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci? Opinions vary. Perhaps Lisa Gherardini, or perhaps Isabella Gualando, Philibert of Savoy or Pacifica Brandano... Who knows?

From king to king, from kingdom to kingdom

The most serious collectors of the 16th century were the kings; it was their attention that the work needed to win in order to break out of the close circle of respect among artists. The first place where the portrait of the Mona Lisa was seen was the bathhouse of the king. The monarch did not place the painting there out of disrespect or ignorance of what a brilliant creation he received; on the contrary, the most important place in the French kingdom was the bathhouse in Fontainebleau. There the king rested, had fun with his mistresses, and received ambassadors.

After Fontainebleau, the painting “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci visited the walls of the Louvre, Versailles, and the Tuileries; for two centuries it traveled from palace to palace. Gioconda has darkened greatly; due to multiple not entirely successful restorations, her eyebrows and two columns behind her have disappeared. If it were possible to describe in words everything that Mona Lisa saw behind the walls of French palaces, then the works of Alexandre Dumas would seem like dry and boring textbooks.

Have you forgotten about La Gioconda?

In the 18th century, luck turned against the legendary painting. “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci simply did not fit into the parameters of the beauties of classicism and frivolous shepherdesses of rococo. She was first transferred to the ministers' rooms, gradually falling lower and lower in the court hierarchy until she found herself in one of the darkest corners of Versailles, where only cleaners and minor officials could see her. The painting was not included in the collection best paintings French king, presented to the public in 1750.

The situation changed French revolution. The painting, along with others, was confiscated from the king's collection for the first museum in the Louvre. It turned out that, unlike the kings, the artists were not for a minute disappointed in Leonardo’s creation. Fragonard, a member of the Convention commission, was able to adequately evaluate the painting and included it in the list of the most valuable works of the museum. After this, not only kings but also everyone could admire the painting in the best museum in the world.

Such different interpretations of Mona Lisa's smile

As you know, you can smile in different ways: seductively, sarcastic, sad, embarrassed or happy. But none of these definitions fit. One of the “experts” claims that the person depicted in the painting is pregnant, and is smiling in an attempt to catch the movement of the fetus. Another says that she is smiling at Leonardo, her lover.

One of the famous versions says that La Gioconda (Mona Lisa) is a self-portrait of Leonardo. Recently, using a computer, they compared the anatomical features of the faces of Gioconda and da Vinci based on the artist’s self-portrait drawn. It turned out that they match perfectly. It turns out that Mona Lisa is the female form of a genius, and her smile is the smile of Leonardo himself.

Why does Mona Lisa's smile fade away and then appear again?

When we look at the portrait of Gioconda, it seems to us that her smile is fickle: it fades away, then appears again. Why is this happening? The fact is that there is central vision, which focuses on details, and peripheral vision, which is not so clear. Thus, if you focus your gaze on Mona Lisa’s lips, the smile disappears, but if you look into the eyes or try to take in the whole face, she smiles.

Today Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is in the Louvre. For an almost perfect security system, they had to pay about 7 million dollars. It includes bulletproof glass, latest system alarms and a specially developed program that maintains the necessary microclimate inside. The current cost of insuring the painting is $3 billion.

Italian researchers are searching for the tomb of Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, believed by many to be the model for Leonardo da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa portrait. They began excavations on the territory of the former Catholic convent Saint Ursula (Sant Orsola) in Florence.Having recreated Lisa’s appearance, they want to compare it with the work of the brilliant Renaissance painter.

A team of Italian experts has discovered an underground burial site believed to contain the remains of Lisa Gherardini, who died aged 63. Excavations were carried out on the territory of the former Catholic convent of St. Ursula in Florence, in which the wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo rested in God on July 15, 1542. This woman entered the history of painting under two names at once - Gioconda or Mona Lisa. By the name of her husband and by his address to her, because Mona ( Mona or Monna comes from the Italian word Madonna- spouse or wife) Lisa posed for the famous portrait by Leonardo da Vinci.

Art historians are determined to recreate appearance Lisa del Giocondo, to compare it with the famous portrait kept in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The authenticity of the remains will be confirmed after comparing the DNA of the deceased with the genetic code of our contemporaries - the descendants of the Renaissance Mona Lisa. If successful, they plan to turn the tomb of an ordinary wife of an ordinary businessman who once traded silk into another tourist attraction. Read also: Is Lefty a Loser or a Winner? The insatiable appetite of archaeologists caused a protest from the actress and the manager of a Tuscan wine company Fattoria Cusona Guicciardini Strozzi Natalia Strozzi, who calls herself the heiress in the 15th generation of the family famous model, who posed for Leonardo himself. Nowadays, a certain Florentine scientist spends his precious time convincing the cream of society there that Irina Strozzi and her eldest daughter Natalia is the last of the heirs of Mona Lisa through her father, Prince Gerolamo Strozzi. Both, by the way, have some Russian blood flowing in them. Their family speaks Russian; in the past decade, this clan tried to trade its wine products in Russia, and in the years cold war the family hosted famous Soviet dissidents and emigrants: Academician Sakharov’s wife Elena Bonner, the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya couple. Anatoly Sobchak lived for some time in the Paris apartment of Natalya’s rich uncle Vladimir Ren. "I am sure that this is her final resting place. The desire to dig up the remains is blasphemous and inappropriate. Especially just to compare her facial features with the charm of Leonardo's painting. The secret of Mona Lisa and her mysterious smile must remain a secret,” Natalia Strozzi expressed her opinion on the pages of the British Mirror . Several years ago, a specialist from Florence, Giuseppe Pallanti, found in the archives the house where Lisa Gherardini was born, the dates of her life and the fact that she was the third wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. Lisa was born into the family of wool merchant Antonio de Gherardini and Caterina Rucellai. Her birthday is June 15, 1479. It turned out that the families of Lisa Gherardini and Leonardo da Vinci lived next door. On March 5, 1495, at the age of 15, she was married to Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo. After his death, the elderly woman spent the last years of her life in the monastery of St. Ursula, in whose cemetery she was buried. For the first time, Lisa was identified with Gioconda in the second half of the 16th century, Giorgio Vasari wrote in his book “Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects”, translated into many languages ​​of the world: “Leonardo undertook to write for Francesco del Giocondo a portrait of his wife, Mona Lisa, and, having worked hard on he was four years old and left it unfinished.” It was Vasari, who highly appreciated the art of Quattrocento, who spoke about one “trick” of the artist, who captured for subsequent generations a smile, often called mysterious: “since Madonna Lisa was very beautiful, while painting the portrait he kept singers, musicians and always jesters with her , who kept her cheerful in order to avoid the dullness that painting usually gives to portraits, while in this portrait of Leonardo there was a smile so pleasant that it seemed something more divine than human, and was considered a wonderful work, for life itself is not could have been different." Biographer Leonardo wrote that the master created his masterpiece in 1503. Subsequently, art critics and historians found out that the portrait was painted in 1514-1515. Not only the date of creation was questioned, but also the identity of the person depicted in the portrait. For some time now there have been several versions. Leonardo allegedly painted a portrait of the Duchess of Mantua, Isabella d'Este. Others claim that the face was copied from the mistress of Giuliano Medici, the Duchess Constanza d'Avalos. Other names were also mentioned: a certain widow of Federigo del Belza, and the widow of Giovanni Antonio Brandan, named Pacifica. They said that this was a self-portrait of the artist in a female form. Not long ago, a theory was put forward that the portrait depicts a student and assistant, and possibly the lover of the master Gian Giacomo Caprotti, to whom Leonardo left this painting as an inheritance. Finally, according to some versions, the portrait depicts the artist’s mother or is simply some kind of image of an ideal woman. Japanese engineer Matsumi Suzuki created a model of Mona Lisa's skull, on the basis of which specialists from the acoustic laboratory were able to record the estimated timbre of Mona Lisa's voice using a computer program. By the way, this should help current researchers; the Japanese calculated her height - 168 cm. Specialists from the Center for Research and Restoration of French Museums and the European Center for Synchrotron Research found out the secret of the sfumato technique, with which the famous portrait was created. The image created using sfumato consists of the thinnest transparent layers liquid paint, which the artist applied step by step layer by layer, thus creating a smooth transition from light to shadow, so outlines and contours are not noticeable in the picture. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy made it possible to study the composition of the paint layer without damaging the painting. Read also: The Americans drove the computer crazy Leonardo da Vinci applied about forty very thin layers of paint to the picture (presumably with his fingers), the thickness of each layer does not exceed two microns, which is fifty times less than a human hair. In different places, the total number of layers varied: in light places the layers are the thinnest and in smaller quantities, and in dark areas it was applied many times and its total thickness reaches 55 microns. Scientists have noted an interesting feature, the reason for which is not yet clear - Leonardo da Vinci used paints with a very high manganese content. In August 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre, but three years later it was returned safely to Paris. From now on it begins new era Mona Lisa - this canvas is recognized as the most famous portrait in the history of painting. 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