"La Gioconda" ("Mona Lisa") Leonardo da Vinci - the genius creation of the master

For more than a decade historians, art historians, journalists and just interested people have been arguing about the riddles of the "Mona Lisa". What is the secret of her smile? Who is actually portrayed in the portrait of Leonardo? Annually more than 8 million visitors come to the Louvre, who want to admire its creation.

So how is this modestly dressed woman with an easy, subtle smile that took an honorable place on the podium among the legendary creations of other great artists?

Honored Glory

Let's first forget that the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci is a brilliant work of the artist. What do we see before us? With a faint smile on her face, the already elderly, modestly dressed woman looks at us. She is not a beauty, but something in her looks. Glory is an amazing phenomenon. A mediocre picture will not help unwind any advertising, and the "Gioconda" - a visiting card of the famous Florentine, known throughout the world.

The picture quality is impressive, all the achievements of the Renaissance are brought together at the highest level. Here the landscape is subtly combined with the portrait, the view is directed at the viewer, the famous pose "counter-post", the pyramidal composition ... The technique itself is admirable: each of the thinnest layers was superimposed on the other only after the previous one has dried. With the "sfumato" Leonardo achieved a melting image of objects, with a brush he transmitted the outlines of air, resurrected the play of light and shadow. This is the main value of the creation of da Vinci "Mona Lisa".

Universal recognition

It was the artists who were the first fans of the "La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci. Painting of the XVI century is literally filled with traces of the influence of the "Mona Lisa". Take, for example, the great Raphael: he seemed to fall ill with a picture of Leonardo, the features of the Gioconda can also be seen in the portrait of the Florentine, in "The Lady with the Unicorn," and most surprisingly, even in the male portrait of Baldasar Castiglione. Leonardo, without knowing it, created a visual aid for his followers who discovered many new things in painting, taking as a basis the portrait of the Mona Lisa.

Giorgio Vasari, an artist and art historian, was the first who in word translated the glory of "Gioconda". In his "Biography of famous painters ..." he called the portrait more divine than human, in addition, he gave such an assessment, never seeing the picture live. The author only expressed his general opinion, thus giving the "Gioconda" a high reputation in the circles of professionals.

Who posed for a portrait?

The only confirmation of how the portrait was going was the words of Giorgio Vazavi, who claims that the picture shows the wife of Francesco Giocondo, a Florentine magnate, the 25-year-old Mona Lisa. He says that while Da Vinci was painting a portrait, the girl was constantly played on the lyre and sang, and the court clowns kept up a good mood, that's why the smile of Mona Lisa is so tender and pleasant.

But there is a lot of evidence that Giorgio was wrong. Firstly, the girl's head is covered by a mourning widow's veil, and Francesco Giocondo has lived a long life. Secondly, why did not 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 large for that time money. In 1925, art critics assumed that the portrait belongs to the mistress of Giuliano Medici, the widow of Constantius d'Avalos. Later, Carlo Pedretti put forward another option: it could be Pacifica Bandano, another mistress of Pedretti. She was the widow of a Spanish nobleman, well-educated, had a cheerful disposition, and adorned with her presence any company.

Who is the real Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci? Opinions differ. Perhaps it's Mona Lisa Gerardini, and perhaps Isabella Gualando, Filiberta of Savoy, or Pachifica Brandano ... How to know?

From king to king, from kingdom to kingdom

The most important collectors of the XVI century were the kings, it was their attention that was necessary to win the product in order to escape from the close circle of respect among artists. The first place where the portrait of the Mona Lisa was seen was the bath of King Francis I. The monarch placed the painting there not because of disrespect or ignorance of what genius creature he got, on the contrary, the most important place of the French kingdom was the bathhouse in Fontainebleau. There the king was resting, having fun with his mistresses, receiving ambassadors.

After Fontainebleau, the painting "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci visited the walls of the Louvre, Versailles, the Tuileries, for two centuries she traveled from the palace to the palace. The Gioconda was very dark, because of the multiple not very successful restorations, her eyebrows and two columns behind her back disappeared. If it were possible to describe all the words that Mona Lisa saw outside the walls of the French palaces, then the works of Alexandre Dumas would seem to be dry and boring textbooks.

Did they forget about the Gioconda?

In the XVIII century, luck turned away from the legendary picture. "Mona Lisa" Leonardo da Vinci simply did not fit in with the parameters of the beauties of classicism and frivolous cowgirls of rococo. At first she was transferred to the ministerial rooms, she gradually descended lower and lower in the court hierarchy until she found herself in one of the darkest corners of Versailles, where only cleaners and small officials could see her. The painting was not included in the collection of the best paintings of the French king, presented to the public in 1750.

The situation was changed by the French Revolution. The picture, 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 did not disappoint for a moment in the creation of Leonardo. Fragonard, a member of the Commission of the Convention, managed to adequately assess the picture and included it in the list of the most valuable works of the museum. After that, the picture was admired not only by kings and court ranks, but by everyone in the best museum in the world.

Such a different interpretation of the smile of the Mona Lisa

As you know, you can smile in different ways: seductively, sarcastically, sadly, embarrassed or happily. But none of these definitions is appropriate. One of the "experts" claims that the person depicted in the picture is pregnant, but smiles in an attempt to catch the fetal movement. Another says that she smiles at Leonardo, her lover.

In one of the famous versions it is said that the "La Gioconda" ("Mona Lisa") is a self-portrait of Leonardo. Recently, with the help of a computer, the anatomical features of the faces of Gioconda and da Vinci were compared by the self-portrait of the artist, drawn in red pencil. It turned out that they fit perfectly. It turns out that Mona Lisa is the female hypostasis of a genius, and her smile is the smile of Leonardo himself.

Why does Mona Lisa's smile fade, then reappear?

When we look at the portrait of the Mona Lisa, it seems to us that her smile is fickle: then it fades, then it re-emerges. Why is this happening? The fact that there is a central vision, focusing on the details, and peripheral, not so distinct. Thus, it is worthwhile to focus your eyes on the lips of the Mona Lisa - the smile disappears, if you look into the eyes or try to cover the whole face - she smiles.

Today, the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci is in the Louvre. For almost an ideal security system had to pay about 7 million dollars. It includes bullet-proof glass, the latest alarm system and a specially developed program that maintains the necessary microclimate inside. At the moment, the cost of insurance picture is 3 billion dollars.