the mona lisa biography

Leonardo, Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa), c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Portraits were once rare

We live in a culture that is so saturated with images, it may be difficult to imagine a time when only the wealthiest people had their likeness captured. The wealthy merchants of renaissance Florence could commission a portrait, but even they would likely only have a single portrait painted during their lifetime. A portrait was about more than likeness, it spoke to status and position. In addition, portraits generally took a long time to paint, and the subject would commonly have to sit for hours or days, while the artist captured their likeness.

View of crowd surrounding Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris; photo: -JvL- , CC BY 2.0)

The most recognized painting in the world

The Mona Lisa was originally this type of portrait, but over time its meaning has shifted and it has become an icon of the Renaissance—perhaps the most recognized painting in the world. The Mona Lisa is a likely a portrait of the wife of a Florentine merchant. For some reason however, the portrait was never delivered to its patron, and Leonardo kept it with him when he went to work for Francis I , the King of France.

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

The Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile has inspired many writers, singers, and painters. Here’s a passage about the Mona Lisa , written by the Victorian-era (19th-century) writer Walter Pater:

We all know the face and hands of the figure, set in its marble chair, in that circle of fantastic rocks, as in some faint light under sea. Perhaps of all ancient pictures time has chilled it least. The presence that thus rose so strangely beside the waters, is expressive of what in the ways of a thousand years men had come to desire. Hers is the head upon which all “the ends of the world are come,” and the eyelids are a little weary. It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh, the deposit, little cell by cell, of strange thoughts and fantastic reveries and exquisite passions. 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!

Left: Piero della Francesca, Portrait of Battista Sforza , c. 1465–66, tempera on panel (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence); right: Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Piero della Francesca’s Portrait of Battista Sforza  is typical of portraits during the Early Renaissance (before Leonardo ); figures were often painted in strict profile, and cut off at the bust. Often the figure was posed in front of a birds-eye view of a landscape.

A new formula

Hans Memling, Portrait of a Young Man at Prayer , c. 1485–94, oil on oak panel ( Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza , Madrid)

With Leonardo’s portrait, the face is nearly frontal, the shoulders are turned three-quarters toward the viewer, and the hands are included in the image.

Leonardo uses his characteristic sfumato —a smokey haziness—to soften outlines and create an atmospheric effect around the figure. When a figure is in profile, we have no real sense of who she is, and there is no sense of engagement. With the face turned toward us, however, we get a sense of the personality of the sitter.

Northern Renaissance artists such as Hans Memling (see the Portrait of a Young Man at Prayer ) had already created portraits of figures in positions similar to the Mona Lisa . Memling had even located them in believable spaces. Leonardo combined these Northern innovations with Italian painting’s understanding of the three dimensionality of the body and the perspectival treatment of the surrounding space.

Left: Unknown, Mona Lisa , c. 1503–05, oil on panel (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid); right: Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

A recent discovery

An important copy of the Mona Lisa was recently discovered in the collection of the Prado in Madrid. The background had been painted over, but when the painting was cleaned, scientific analysis revealed that the copy was likely painted by another artist who sat beside Leonardo and copied his work, brush-stroke by brush-stroke. The copy gives us an idea of what the Mona Lisa might look like if layers of yellowed varnish were removed.

Bibliography

Read a Reframing Art History chapter that discusses Leonardo da Vinci—” Art in Sovereign States of the Italian Renaissance, c. 1400–1600 .”

Theresa Flanigan, “Mona Lisa’s Smile: Interpreting Emotion in Renaissance Female Portraits,” Studies in Iconography , vol. 40 (2019), pp. 183–230.

This painting at the Louvre .

Louvre Feature: A Closer Look at the Mona Lisa .

Not Just Another Fake Mona Lisa from The New York Times Interactive.

Mona Lisa at Universal Leonardo.

Important fundamentals

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Europe 1300 - 1800

Course: europe 1300 - 1800   >   unit 4.

• About Leonardo
• Letter to the Duke of Milan
• Leonardo: Anatomist - by Nature Video
• Leonardo and his drawings
• Virgin of the Rocks
• Adoration of the Magi
• “Vitruvian Man”
• Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist (Burlington House Cartoon)
• The Last Supper

Portraits were once rare

The most recognized painting in the world.

"We all know the face and hands of the figure, set in its marble chair, in that circle of fantastic rocks, as in some faint light under sea. Perhaps of all ancient pictures time has chilled it least. The presence that thus rose so strangely beside the waters, is expressive of what in the ways of a thousand years men had come to desire. Hers is the head upon which all 'the ends of the world are come,' and the eyelids are a little weary. It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh, the deposit, little cell by cell, of strange thoughts and fantastic reveries and exquisite passions. 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!"

A new formula

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• Leonardo da Vinci

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Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Lisa Gherardini from the early 16th century would become better known as the Mona Lisa. It would become his most famous work, in any discipline, and many regard it as the finest painting ever made.

• Introduction

The Mona Lisa represents Leonardo's pinnacle as a painter - the seemingly infinite variations in tone using subtle transparent glazes would produce a lifelike quality which helped to lift Renaissance portraiture to a new level.

This was the celebrated aspect of the Mona Lisa for many centuries, but in recent years there has been a focus on the romantic and mysterious nature of this painting.

Whilst many of the artist's other works have been mired in arguments about attribution, scholars have been left to debate the identity of the sitter in this piece, as well as the mood that she displays as her gaze strikes upon us.

Modern society has a habit over obsessing over some things, and ignoring others completely, and it is fair to say that Da Vinci's paintings as a whole have much to offer, rather than just the Mona Lisa .

But the significance of this piece is how it encompasses all of the learnings from his previous decades of work, his toil around Italy looking for new commissions, and his commitment to his master Verrocchio as an apprentice.

He was now a true master, as he entered his fifties, and the Mona Lisa brings all of his innovations and experience together into one small, but perfectly formed artwork. The Mona Lisa resides today at the Louvre in Paris and remains its biggest highlight from an extraordinary permanent collection of European art.

"...None of Leonardo's works would exert more influence upon the evolution of the genre than the Mona Lisa. It became the definitive example of the Renaissance portrait..." Frank Zöllner

Leonardo da Vinci must surely have invested a significant amount emotionally into this artwork, and felt a strong connection to it, in order to re-visit such a small work on some many occasions. Some have even suggested that he was still tweaking elements of the composition as late as 1517, which was just a few years before his death.

Perhaps he saw this painting as the closest that he could get to achieving perfection within art, and so would continually wonder how he might be able to improve it. It would inspire the next generations of Italian artists and set him out as a respected painter for centuries, with his legacy in other disciplines only coming about relatively recently.

This article examines each and every aspect of the Mona Lisa in the greatest of detail, from the original commission given to him by Lisa Gherardini's husband, Francesco del Giocondo, to the process which took many years to complete in order to produce the fine artwork that we consider to celebrate today.

There is an analysis of the piece itself, and a comparison between it and other secular portraits from the artist's career. We also discuss its progress after the life of the artist, with some restoration work helping to keep it in the best condition possible. Finally, we consider the Mona Lisa's legacy, both within the art world but also in wider society.

Table of Contents

The mona lisa model, description, technical information, restoration, large, high resolution images of mona lisa.

The Mona Lisa was a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, commissioned by her husband, Francesco del Giocondo, to celebrate the birth of their second son, Andrea. Sadly, she had previously lost a daughter just a few years earlier, and so Francesco was careful to wait several months before contacting Leonardo about this work.

Both mother and child were happy and healthy, and so he set about celebrating the event with this portrait. It was meant to hang within the family home, but by the time Leonardo eventually completed it they had already relocated away from Florence.

The Giocondo family had earlier moved into a new home in early 1503 soon after the birth of Andrea. Francesco himself had lost two wives already due to childbirth and would have been anxious about the latest arrival.

Such problems were also widespread within Italian society at the time and so to see mother and child come through unscathed was clearly a moment of joy for the family. This was reason enough to warrant a new commission and so Francesco set about using his local connections to decide upon the most suitable artist for this task.

It is likely that Leonardo's father was well acquainted with the Giocondo family and he himself had already helped his son to acquire a number of different commissions.

Additionally, Leonardo was already working within the same chapel as used by the family for their own personal religious practices, and so may well have come into contact with them previously at the SS Annunziata in Florence.

Most scholars today believe that the model for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was Lisa del Giocondo. Indeed, the most famous art biographer of that era, Giorgio Vasari , wrote exactly this within his detailed account of the artist's life, which for many years was the main source of knowledge regarding Da Vinci's career.

A huge body of evidence has stacked up over the centuries to back up this claim, with much known about the Giocondo family as a whole.

Francesco del Giocondo was wealthy Florentine silk merchant and the theory that he wanted a portrait to celebrate the health of his wife and newborn child seems entirely in keeping with the practices of the Florentine middle classes of the time, as well as the personal tragedies that he himself had experienced.

"...Leonardo undertook to paint, for Francesco del Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife..." Giorgio Vasari

Lisa del Giocondo

Lisa del Giocondo, née Gherardini, would have been approaching her mid-twenties at the time that Leonardo commenced the Mona Lisa painting. She married Francesco del Giocondo in 1495 whilst still a teen, and would go on to have five children in total.

She would live to the age of 63, which was above average for the Florence middle classes of the 16th century. She is believed to have risen in her social standing upon marrying, having come from a more modest background than her husband, but equally was very much in love with Francesco.

Her husband treated his wife particularly well according to the accounts of the time, and he himself would slowly rise in status after their marriage, becoming involved in politics alongside his growing business interests.

Alternative Theory - Isabella d'Este

The strongest alternative theory put forward as to the identity of the model for the Mona Lisa would have to be Isabella d'Este. She was well known to Leonardo, as he had worked for her in 1499, and there are a number of commissions for her which he never completed.

Some have suggested that after writing to him about this, perhaps the Mona Lisa was born from that. There are potential discrepancies between her own image, and that found within this portrait, such as her natural hair colour, and there is also far more evidence in favour of it being Lisa del Giocondo in any case.

It must also be pointed out that the other famous portraits of Isabella d'Este, by Titian and later Rubens, do not accurately resemble what we see in the Mona Lisa, and so this theory seems unlikely.

The model is pictured from the waist up, in what is known as a "half-length" portrait. She is turned two-thirds towards us, and her eyes gaze directly in our direction. One hand is wrapped over the other and her facial expression is verging on a smile.

A small balustrade runs across the foreground, just behind the sitter, and provides a clear divide between the foreground and background. Leonardo avoids any other details within the foreground and this allows a sprawling landscape to spread across the back of the painting.

He also brings the model forwards towards us, with the top of her head nearly reaching the top of the composition. This enlarged outline helps to increase our connection her, whilst also giving more opportunity to the artist to expand upon his subtle details, as found previously within his portraits.

The landscape found within Mona Lisa is entirely typical of how he worked within this genre. There are rocky structures, areas of natural water, and also a softening of outlines as we push towards the back of the painting. Typically, his landscapes would slowly merge with the sky above and the artist often wrote about his technical reasons for doing this.

The model's hair is modestly styled and runs straight down to her shoulders, with just the suggesting of curls above her pale shoulders. She wears a dark gown, though the artist manages to deliver aesthetic interest through the beautifully crafted rolls of material which run along both sleeves. The clothing itself reminds us of Lisa Gherardini's status within the Italian middle classes, thanks to her marriage several years earlier.

The model within Mona Lisa also wears a veil which many do not immediately spot (it's outline slightly hangs out to our left hand side). Other than the sprawling landscape at the back, this painting appears relatively straight forward at first glance, but it is the incredible subtleties used by the artist which make it such an accomplished painting.

How could such a seemingly simple composition rise to become the most famous painting of all time? Da Vinci's Mona Lisa features a wealth of innovations which would become the default style of portraiture for all Italian artists that followed. The three-quarter view in which the model is sat broke with tradition.

Leonardo da Vinci had also perfected his use of sfumato, which delivered life like qualities to his portraits that lifted the bar in Renaissance art. We see many examples of it in previous decades, but by the time of the Mona Lisa this technique of subtle variations of colour, with delicate layers of transparent glazes, had been perfected.

Many scholars have claimed that in this portrait we are connected to the inner soul of the subject, and that the artist is somehow able to portray their personality through the aesthetics. Many have been drawn in by the ambiguity of the subject's facial expression, which borders on a smile.

Leonardo would also incorporate elements of chiaroscuro, where light varies considerably from the foreground to the background and this helps to deliver a strong feeling of depth to the painting. He also takes his landscape work as far as had been seen within this painting, providing a complex myriad of elements which drift off into the distance.

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa may not carry the same symbolism that you might find in other genres, but there are secrets within the artwork that you may not initially pick up. Lisa Gherardini's personality is portrayed through the subtle uplifts around the lips and eyes, giving us an insight into the life of a happy mother and wife.

The artist also combines the features of the landscape with the sitter's clothing and hair, with free flowing material on her sleeves offering a consistent look with the meandering rivers in the far distance. This is no coincidence, but a carefully planned artwork which took many years to finally complete.

Leonardo da Vinci worked on the Mona Lisa between the years of 1503–1506, at which point he would have been in his early fifties. There is considerable evidence to suggest, however, that he continued to re-visit the work from time to time, making minor adjustments until 1517 at the latest.

That would mean that Leonardo would have been working on the Mona Lisa right up until just a few years before his death in 1519, aged 67. The artist would have completed his iconic The Last Supper (c. 1492–1498) in the previous decade, and at around the same time as the Mona Lisa he would also have worked on Salvator Mundi (c. 1499–1510) as well as his two versions of Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

He also completed some secular portraits which were compositionally-similar to the Mona Lisa in previous decades, such as Lady with an Ermine and Ginevra de Benci, and many of the qualities found in these paintings would continue into his portrait of Lisa Gherardini.

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is 77 cm in height and 53 cm in width (30 inches × 21 inches). This is slightly larger than the artist's related secular portraits of Lady with an Ermine and Ginevra de Benci , which allowed Leonardo to incorporate a greater amount of detail in the background, but without ruining the balance of the painting.

Many visitors to the Louvre are surprised at how "small" the Mona Lisa is, but in fact it is correctly sized for a single portrait of the Renaissance era, and entirely consistent with the rest of the artist's career.

Leonardo would only make use of larger panels when the composition required it, such as with The Last Supper , where a huge number of figures were included, with that piece stretching to nine metres in width.

His Virgin of the Rocks stretches to nearly two meters in height, but the lower half of the work features four full-length portraits, and so warrants this larger work area.

In some cases the requirements of the donor will also impact size, and many of the artist's secular portraits were intended to be hung within small, private rooms such as a bedroom, where anything larger would have been entirely inappropriate.

The Mona Lisa was produced using oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. Leonardo da Vinci would have been in his early fifties by the time he started to paint the Mona Lisa, and by this point in his career he had worked with both tempera and oils on multiple occasions.

Indeed, he would regularly combine the two, but over time he started to use tempera less and less, prefering the vivid colours delivered by the oils.

Italian artists had tended to prefer tempera for centuries, including Leonardo's own master, Verrocchio , but the influence of Flemish artists would open their eyes to this exciting alternative which would eventually become the dominant medium within Italian art.

The painting was made on a single thin slice of popular wood. One small crack is believed to have appeared over time and this is currently held together using a dovetail joint. The artist used more subtle tones here than perhaps in any other painting from his career, which explains why the artwork took so long whilst still being relatively small.

Leonardo used many transparent layers to create almost unlimited variations in tone, and therefore move towards as lifelike an image as possible. A varnish was added over the top but over time various materials have changed, altering the colour balance within the painting.

Leonardo's Mona Lisa has resided at the Louvre in Paris, France since 1797. Its precise location is in Room 711 (Salle des États) of the Denon wing on Level 1. It remains the greatest highlight in the permanent collection of the Louvre, and attracts millions of visitors each and every year.

It is joined within this room by The Wedding Feast at Cana, Supper at Emmaus, The Crucifixion, Portrait of a Venetian Woman and Jupiter Hurling Thunderbolts at the Vices by Paolo Veronese , The Pastoral Concert, Woman with a Mirror, Man with a Glove and The Virgin and Child with Saint Catherine and a Shepherd by Titian as well as The Coronation of the Virgin by Tintoretto .

Francis I of France, or François Ier (roi de France), would purchase the Mona Lisa fairly early on in its life, possibly as early as 1518. It would then make its way over to Fontainebleau Palace, where it would be displayed alongside two other artworks by Leonardo, namely Leda and the Swan, La Belle Ferronnière and St John the Baptist . The Mona Lisa would then remain here for around two centuries as part of the growing Royal Collection.

As we head towards the end of the 18th century, the painting would be relocated to Versailles, then back to Paris, before being returned to Versailles. Eventually it would pass to the Louvre in 1797 and has remained there ever since.

Having remained in the French Royal family for many centuries, after initially been purchased by King Francis I, the piece is now owned by the French Republic. It is also considered a cultural asset of great significance and is therefore highly unlikely to be sold.

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa remains in fairly good condition, despite the artwork's age. The piece has never received a fall restoration, and any work completed on it in the past has been done so in a relatively subtle manner, meaning most of the work is much the same as when the artist first completed the piece.

Two of the main issues to occur have been the darkening of the varnish which has impacted the clarity of all detail within the painting, as well as some warping to the wooden panel. Both of these problems are entirely typical of art from the 15th and 16th century, and so restorers are well accustomed to dealing with these type of issues.

Other works have previously been transferred to canvas to avoid other common issues such as woodworm, but the Mona Lisa remains one its original panel of popular wood.

Some of the warping of the wood was caused by ill fitting or non-existant frames, which when combined with changing external conditions such as humidity, would inevitably cause the panel to alter shape.

Today the piece is well conserved and given consistent, optimal conditions which should help to avoid any further deterioration in the painting's condition. The current frame was added in 1909 and chosen as something faithful to the styles of the early 16th century, as well as suitable for the longterm protection of the piece.

Whilst hidden away in storage during WWII, the painting may have suffered somewhat from the alternative conditions but is today given the very best care possible - it is on display behind a bullet proof glass screen which protects against any unruly members of the public.

A large number of copies of the Mona Lisa exist today. The three most famous of those are known as the Prado Museum La Gioconda, the Isleworth Mona Lisa and the Hermitage Mona Lisa.

Many visitors to Da Vinci's studio, as well as some of his own assistants, would sit and produce their own versions of the Mona Lisa, and so it has proven difficult to attribute these different copies accurately. All three have been received support for also being from Leonardo's hand, though other scholars have also suggested that he was not involved.

Da Vinci did produce multiple versions of the same painting several times, and so it is not impossible that he produced copies of the Mona Lisa, but the more likely scenario is that highly skilled members of his studio created these other versions.

The Mona Lisa would have a greater influence on the direction of Renaissance art than any artwork by Leonardo da Vinci.

It was admired for many different reasons, and the most famous artist to learn directly from this piece would be Raphael, who used some of its qualities in portraits such as Young Woman with Unicorn, Portrait of Maddalena Doni, La Velata and Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione.

Da Vinci's lifelike portraits had impressed many for several decades but the Mona Lisa represented his greatest achievement, at which point his evolution as a portrait painter was now complete. All of his innovations with oils were on display within this single piece.

It would be used as a benchmark for all portaiture going forwards, both in terms of precise, lifelike aesthetics as well as the manner in which the artist composed the scene.

Italian art during the Renaissance was famous for the different schools which would put forward their own ideas and styles, each learning from each other, but the Mona Lisa represented the starting point from which all later portrait painters should refer - an unchallengeable, perhaps even perfect display of the visual arts.

Over time the painting's fame would lead to a magical quality falling upon its reputation, with viewers becoming mesmerised by the ambigious qualities of the subject's facial expressions. It would go on to become the most researched artwork in history too, with academics desperate to uncover new secrets about it for centuries to come.

The World's Most Famous Painting

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa remains the world's most famous painting of all time. A number of studies over the past few decades have continually placed this oil painting from the early 16th century as the most well known piece across the world, in a list which is dominated by western art, underlining the spread of western culture across the planet.

The Mona Lisa is famed for its use of subtle tones and the layers of transparent glazes which allowed the artist to create the most lifelike of images for this portrait. Those fortunate enough to see this painting in person at the Louvre , will marvel at the intricacy of fine detail delivered in this artwork.

For the less fortunate of us who are unable to visit this famous art museum in Paris, we have included some larger images of the original painting below, some of which have been digitally retouched in order to reduce some of the signs of aging that have inevitably occured over the past five hundred years.

• Leonardo. The Complete Paintings and Drawings, Frank Zöllner & Johannes Nathan, Taschen
• Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson

Article Author

Tom Gurney in an art history expert. He received a BSc (Hons) degree from Salford University, UK, and has also studied famous artists and art movements for over 20 years. Tom has also published a number of books related to art history and continues to contribute to a number of different art websites. You can read more on Tom Gurney here.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Leonardo da vinci (1452–1519).

A Bear Walking

• Leonardo da Vinci

The Head of a Woman in Profile Facing Left

Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio

The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right

Allegory on the Fidelity of the Lizard (recto); Design for a Stage Setting (verso)

The Head of a Grotesque Man in Profile Facing Right

After Leonardo da Vinci

Head of a Man in Profile Facing to the Left

Compositional Sketches for the Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, with and without the Infant St. John the Baptist; Diagram of a Perspectival Projection (recto); Slight Doodles (verso)

Studies for Hercules Holding a Club Seen in Frontal View, Male Nude Unsheathing a Sword, and the Movements of Water (Recto); Study for Hercules Holding a Club Seen in Rear View (Verso)

Carmen Bambach Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2002

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is one of the most intriguing personalities in the history of Western art. Trained in Florence as a painter and sculptor in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio (1435–1488), Leonardo is also celebrated for his scientific contributions. His curiosity and insatiable hunger for knowledge never left him. He was constantly observing, experimenting, and inventing, and drawing was, for him, a tool for recording his investigation of nature. Although completed works by Leonardo are few, he left a large body of drawings (almost 2,500) that record his ideas, most still gathered into notebooks. He was principally active in Florence (1472–ca. 1482, 1500–1508) and Milan (ca. 1482–99, 1508–13), but spent the last years of his life in Rome (1513–16) and France (1516/17–1519), where he died. His genius as an artist and inventor continues to inspire artists and scientists alike centuries after his death.

Drawings Outside of Italy, Leonardo’s work can be studied most readily in drawings. He recorded his constant flow of ideas for paintings on paper. In his Studies for the Nativity ( 17.142.1 ), he studied different poses and gestures of the mother and her infant , probably in preparation for the main panel in his famous altarpiece known as the Virgin of the Rocks (Musée du Louvre, Paris). Similarly, in a sheet of designs for a stage setting ( 17.142.2 ), prepared for a staging of a masque (or musical comedy) in Milan in 1496, he made notes on the actors’ positions on stage alongside his sketches, translating images and ideas from his imagination onto paper. Leonardo also drew what he observed from the world around him, including human anatomy , animal and plant life, the motion of water, and the flight of birds. He also investigated the mechanisms of machines used in his day, inventing many devices like a modern-day engineer. His drawing techniques range from rather rapid pen sketches, in The   Head of a Man in Profile Facing to The Left ( 10.45.1) , to carefully finished drawings in red and black chalks, as in The   Head of the Virgin ( 51.90 ). These works also demonstrate his fascination with physiognomy, and contrasts between youth and old age, beauty and ugliness.

The Last Supper (ca. 1492/94–1498) Leonardo’s Last Supper , on the end wall of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, is one of the most renowned paintings of the High Renaissance. Recently restored, The Last Supper had already begun to flake during the artist’s lifetime due to his failed attempt to paint on the walls in layers (not unlike the technique of tempera on panel), rather than in a true fresco technique . Even in its current state, it is a masterpiece of dramatic narrative and subtle pictorial illusionism.

Leonardo chose to capture the moment just after Christ tells his apostles that one of them will betray him, and at the institution of the Eucharist. The effect of his statement causes a visible response, in the form of a wave of emotion among the apostles. These reactions are quite specific to each apostle, expressing what Leonardo called the “motions of the mind.” Despite the dramatic reaction of the apostles, Leonardo imposes a sense of order on the scene. Christ’s head is at the center of the composition, framed by a halo-like architectural opening. His head is also the vanishing point toward which all lines of the perspectival projection of the architectural setting converge. The apostles are arranged around him in four groups of three united by their posture and gesture. Judas, who was traditionally placed on the opposite side of the table, is here set apart from the other apostles by his shadowed face.

Mona Lisa (ca. 1503–6 and later) Leonardo may also be credited with the most famous portrait of all time, that of Lisa, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and known as the Mona Lisa (Musée du Louvre, Paris). An aura of mystery surrounds this painting, which is veiled in a soft light, creating an atmosphere of enchantment. There are no hard lines or contours here (a technique of painting known as sfumato— fumo in Italian means “smoke”), only seamless transitions between light and dark. Perhaps the most striking feature of the painting is the sitter’s ambiguous half smile. She looks directly at the viewer, but her arms, torso, and head each twist subtly in a different direction, conveying an arrested sense of movement. Leonardo explores the possibilities of oil paint in the soft folds of the drapery, texture of skin, and contrasting light and dark (chiaroscuro). The deeply receding background, with its winding rivers and rock formations, is an example of Leonardo’s personal view of the natural world: one in which everything is liquid, in flux, and filled with movement and energy.

Bambach, Carmen. “Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm (October 2002)

Further Reading

Bambach, Carmen C., ed. Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman . Exhibition catalogue.. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

Additional Essays by Carmen Bambach

• Bambach, Carmen. “ Anatomy in the Renaissance .” (October 2002)
• Bambach, Carmen. “ Renaissance Drawings: Material and Function .” (October 2002)

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• Northern Italian Renaissance Painting
• The Papacy and the Vatican Palace
• Patronage at the Later Valois Courts (1461–1589)
• Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641): Paintings
• Rembrandt (1606–1669): Paintings
• Sixteenth-Century Painting in Emilia-Romagna
• Sixteenth-Century Painting in Lombardy
• Sixteenth-Century Painting in Venice and the Veneto
• Unfinished Works in European Art, ca. 1500–1900
• Venetian Color and Florentine Design

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• List of Rulers of Europe
• Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.
• Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• France, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
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• 15th Century A.D.
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Artist or Maker

• Boltraffio, Giovanni Antonio
• Parmigianino

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance artist and engineer, known for paintings like "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa,” and for inventions like a flying machine.

(1452-1519)

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?

Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer and draftsman — the epitome of a true Renaissance man. Gifted with a curious mind and a brilliant intellect, da Vinci studied the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work. His drawings, paintings and other works have influenced countless artists and engineers over the centuries.

Da Vinci was born in a farmhouse outside the village of Anchiano in Tuscany, Italy (about 18 miles west of Florence) on April 15, 1452.

Born out of wedlock to respected Florentine notary Ser Piero and a young peasant woman named Caterina, da Vinci was raised by his father and his stepmother.

At the age of five, he moved to his father’s estate in nearby Vinci (the town from which his surname derives), where he lived with his uncle and grandparents.

Young da Vinci received little formal education beyond basic reading, writing and mathematics instruction, but his artistic talents were evident from an early age.

Around the age of 14, da Vinci began a lengthy apprenticeship with the noted artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. He learned a wide breadth of technical skills including metalworking, leather arts, carpentry, drawing, painting and sculpting.

His earliest known dated work — a pen-and-ink drawing of a landscape in the Arno valley — was sketched in 1473.

Early Works

At the age of 20, da Vinci qualified for membership as a master artist in Florence’s Guild of Saint Luke and established his own workshop. However, he continued to collaborate with del Verrocchio for an additional five years.

It is thought that del Verrocchio completed his “Baptism of Christ” around 1475 with the help of his student, who painted part of the background and the young angel holding the robe of Jesus.

According to Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects , written around 1550 by artist Giorgio Vasari, del Verrocchio was so humbled by the superior talent of his pupil that he never picked up a paintbrush again. (Most scholars, however, dismiss Vasari’s account as apocryphal.)

In 1478, after leaving del Verrocchio’s studio, da Vinci received his first independent commission for an altarpiece to reside in a chapel inside Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio.

Three years later the Augustinian monks of Florence’s San Donato a Scopeto tasked him to paint “Adoration of the Magi.” The young artist, however, would leave the city and abandon both commissions without ever completing them.

Was Leonardo da Vinci Gay?

Many historians believe that da Vinci was a homosexual: Florentine court records from 1476 show that da Vinci and four other young men were charged with sodomy, a crime punishable by exile or death.

After no witnesses showed up to testify against 24-year-old da Vinci, the charges were dropped, but his whereabouts went entirely undocumented for the following two years.

Leonardo da Vinci: Paintings

Although da Vinci is known for his artistic abilities, fewer than two dozen paintings attributed to him exist. One reason is that his interests were so varied that he wasn’t a prolific painter. Da Vinci’s most famous works include the “Vitruvian Man,” “The Last Supper” and the “ Mona Lisa .”

Vitruvian Man

Art and science intersected perfectly in da Vinci’s sketch of “Vitruvian Man,” drawn in 1490, which depicted a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart inside both a square and a circle.

The now-famous sketch represents da Vinci's study of proportion and symmetry, as well as his desire to relate man to the natural world.

The Last Supper

Around 1495, Ludovico Sforza, then the Duke of Milan, commissioned da Vinci to paint “The Last Supper” on the back wall of the dining hall inside the monastery of Milan’s Santa Maria delle Grazie.

The masterpiece, which took approximately three years to complete, captures the drama of the moment when Jesus informs the Twelve Apostles gathered for Passover dinner that one of them would soon betray him. The range of facial expressions and the body language of the figures around the table bring the masterful composition to life.

The decision by da Vinci to paint with tempera and oil on dried plaster instead of painting a fresco on fresh plaster led to the quick deterioration and flaking of “The Last Supper.” Although an improper restoration caused further damage to the mural, it has now been stabilized using modern conservation techniques.

In 1503, da Vinci started working on what would become his most well-known painting — and arguably the most famous painting in the world —the “Mona Lisa.” The privately commissioned work is characterized by the enigmatic smile of the woman in the half-portrait, which derives from da Vinci’s sfumato technique.

Adding to the allure of the “Mona Lisa” is the mystery surrounding the identity of the subject. Princess Isabella of Naples, an unnamed courtesan and da Vinci’s own mother have all been put forth as potential sitters for the masterpiece. It has even been speculated that the subject wasn’t a female at all but da Vinci’s longtime apprentice Salai dressed in women’s clothing.

Based on accounts from an early biographer, however, the "Mona Lisa" is a picture of Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant. The painting’s original Italian name — “La Gioconda” — supports the theory, but it’s far from certain. Some art historians believe the merchant commissioned the portrait to celebrate the pending birth of the couple’s next child, which means the subject could have been pregnant at the time of the painting.

If the Giocondo family did indeed commission the painting, they never received it. For da Vinci, the "Mona Lisa" was forever a work in progress, as it was his attempt at perfection, and he never parted with the painting. Today, the "Mona Lisa" hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, secured behind bulletproof glass and regarded as a priceless national treasure seen by millions of visitors each year.

Battle of Anghiari

In 1503, da Vinci also started work on the "Battle of Anghiari," a mural commissioned for the council hall in the Palazzo Vecchio that was to be twice as large as "The Last Supper."

He abandoned the "Battle of Anghiari" project after two years when the mural began to deteriorate before he had a chance to finish it.

In 1482, Florentine ruler Lorenzo de' Medici commissioned da Vinci to create a silver lyre and bring it as a peace gesture to Ludovico Sforza. After doing so, da Vinci lobbied Ludovico for a job and sent the future Duke of Milan a letter that barely mentioned his considerable talents as an artist and instead touted his more marketable skills as a military engineer.

Using his inventive mind, da Vinci sketched war machines such as a war chariot with scythe blades mounted on the sides, an armored tank propelled by two men cranking a shaft and even an enormous crossbow that required a small army of men to operate.

The letter worked, and Ludovico brought da Vinci to Milan for a tenure that would last 17 years. During his time in Milan, da Vinci was commissioned to work on numerous artistic projects as well, including “The Last Supper.”

Da Vinci’s ability to be employed by the Sforza clan as an architecture and military engineering advisor as well as a painter and sculptor spoke to da Vinci’s keen intellect and curiosity about a wide variety of subjects.

Flying Machine

Always a man ahead of his time, da Vinci appeared to prophesy the future with his sketches of devices that resemble a modern-day bicycle and a type of helicopter.

Perhaps his most well-known invention is a flying machine, which is based on the physiology of a bat. These and other explorations into the mechanics of flight are found in da Vinci's Codex on the Flight of Birds, a study of avian aeronautics, which he began in 1505.

Like many leaders of Renaissance humanism, da Vinci did not see a divide between science and art. He viewed the two as intertwined disciplines rather than separate ones. He believed studying science made him a better artist.

In 1502 and 1503, da Vinci also briefly worked in Florence as a military engineer for Cesare Borgia, the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and commander of the papal army. He traveled outside of Florence to survey military construction projects and sketch city plans and topographical maps.

He designed plans, possibly with noted diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli , to divert the Arno River away from rival Pisa in order to deny its wartime enemy access to the sea.

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Da Vinci’s Study of Anatomy and Science

Da Vinci thought sight was humankind’s most important sense and eyes the most important organ, and he stressed the importance of saper vedere, or “knowing how to see.” He believed in the accumulation of direct knowledge and facts through observation.

“A good painter has two chief objects to paint — man and the intention of his soul,” da Vinci wrote. “The former is easy, the latter hard, for it must be expressed by gestures and the movement of the limbs.”

To more accurately depict those gestures and movements, da Vinci began to study anatomy seriously and dissect human and animal bodies during the 1480s. His drawings of a fetus in utero, the heart and vascular system, sex organs and other bone and muscular structures are some of the first on human record.

In addition to his anatomical investigations, da Vinci studied botany, geology, zoology, hydraulics, aeronautics and physics. He sketched his observations on loose sheets of papers and pads that he tucked inside his belt.

Da Vinci placed the papers in notebooks and arranged them around four broad themes—painting, architecture, mechanics and human anatomy. He filled dozens of notebooks with finely drawn illustrations and scientific observations.

Ludovico Sforza also tasked da Vinci with sculpting a 16-foot-tall bronze equestrian statue of his father and founder of the family dynasty, Francesco Sforza. With the help of apprentices and students in his workshop, da Vinci worked on the project on and off for more than a dozen years.

Da Vinci sculpted a life-size clay model of the statue, but the project was put on hold when war with France required bronze to be used for casting cannons, not sculptures. After French forces overran Milan in 1499 — and shot the clay model to pieces — da Vinci fled the city along with the duke and the Sforza family.

Ironically, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, who led the French forces that conquered Ludovico in 1499, followed in his foe’s footsteps and commissioned da Vinci to sculpt a grand equestrian statue, one that could be mounted on his tomb. After years of work and numerous sketches by da Vinci, Trivulzio decided to scale back the size of the statue, which was ultimately never finished.

Final Years

Da Vinci returned to Milan in 1506 to work for the very French rulers who had overtaken the city seven years earlier and forced him to flee.

Among the students who joined his studio was young Milanese aristocrat Francesco Melzi, who would become da Vinci’s closest companion for the rest of his life. He did little painting during his second stint in Milan, however, and most of his time was instead dedicated to scientific studies.

Amid political strife and the temporary expulsion of the French from Milan, da Vinci left the city and moved to Rome in 1513 along with Salai, Melzi and two studio assistants. Giuliano de’ Medici, brother of newly installed Pope Leo X and son of his former patron, gave da Vinci a monthly stipend along with a suite of rooms at his residence inside the Vatican.

His new patron, however, also gave da Vinci little work. Lacking large commissions, he devoted most of his time in Rome to mathematical studies and scientific exploration.

After being present at a 1515 meeting between France’s King Francis I and Pope Leo X in Bologna, the new French monarch offered da Vinci the title “Premier Painter and Engineer and Architect to the King.”

Along with Melzi, da Vinci departed for France, never to return. He lived in the Chateau de Cloux (now Clos Luce) near the king’s summer palace along the Loire River in Amboise. As in Rome, da Vinci did little painting during his time in France. One of his last commissioned works was a mechanical lion that could walk and open its chest to reveal a bouquet of lilies.

How Did Leonardo da Vinci Die?

Da Vinci died of a probable stroke on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67. He continued work on his scientific studies until his death; his assistant, Melzi, became the principal heir and executor of his estate. The “Mona Lisa” was bequeathed to Salai.

For centuries after his death, thousands of pages from his private journals with notes, drawings, observations and scientific theories have surfaced and provided a fuller measure of the true "Renaissance man."

Book and Movie

Although much has been written about da Vinci over the years, Walter Isaacson explored new territory with an acclaimed 2017 biography, Leonardo da Vinci , which offers up details on what drove the artist's creations and inventions.

The buzz surrounding the book carried into 2018, with the announcement that it had been optioned for a big-screen adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio .

Salvator Mundi

In 2017, the art world was sent buzzing with the news that the da Vinci painting "Salvator Mundi" had been sold at a Christie's auction to an undisclosed buyer for a whopping $450.3 million. That amount dwarfed the previous record for an art work sold at an auction, the $179.4 million paid for “Women of Algiers" by Pablo Picasso in 2015.

The sales figure was stunning in part because of the damaged condition of the oil-on-panel, which features Jesus Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left holding a crystal orb, and because not all experts believe it was rendered by da Vinci.

However, Christie's had launched what one dealer called a "brilliant marketing campaign," which promoted the work as "the holy grail of our business" and "the last da Vinci." Prior to the sale, it was the only known painting by the old master still in a private collection.

The Saudi Embassy stated that Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud of Saudi Arabia had acted as an agent for the ministry of culture of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Around that time, the newly-opened Louvre Abu Dhabi announced that the record-breaking artwork would be exhibited in its collection.

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QUICK FACTS

• Name: Leonardo da Vinci
• Birth Year: 1452
• Birth date: April 15, 1452
• Birth City: Vinci
• Birth Country: Italy
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance artist and engineer, known for paintings like "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa,” and for inventions like a flying machine.
• Science and Medicine
• Writing and Publishing
• Architecture
• Technology and Engineering
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Nacionalities
• Interesting Facts
• Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock to a respected Florentine notary and a young peasant woman.
• Da Vinci used tempera and oil on dried plaster to paint "The Last Supper," which led to its quick deterioration and flaking.
• For da Vinci, the "Mona Lisa" was forever a work in progress, as it was his attempt at perfection, and he never parted with the painting.
• Death Year: 1519
• Death date: May 2, 1519
• Death City: Amboise
• Death Country: France

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Leonardo da Vinci Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/leonardo-da-vincii
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: August 28, 2019
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.
• Nothing is hidden beneath the sun.
• Obstacles cannot bend me. Every obstacle yields to effort.
• We make our life by the death of others.
• Necessity is the mistress and guardian of nature.
• One ought not to desire the impossible.
• He who neglects to punish evil sanctions the doing thereof.
• Darkness is the absence of light. Shadow is the diminution of light.
• The painter who draws by practice and judgment of the eye without the use of reason, is like the mirror that reproduces within itself all the objects which are set opposite to it without knowledge of the same.
• He who does not value life does not deserve it.
• Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
• Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.

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• The Adoration of the Magi
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• Date of Creation:
• Alternative Names:
• Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, La Gioconda
• Height (cm):
• Length (cm):
• Art Movement:
• Renaissance
• Created by:
• Current Location:
• Paris, France
• Displayed at:

Musée du Louvre

• Mona Lisa Page's Content
• Story / Theme
• Critical Reception
• Related Paintings
• Bibliography

Mona Lisa Story / Theme

The Mona Lisa is also known as Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, or La Gioconda and as well as being one of Leonardo da Vinci's favorite paintings, it remains the most famous artwork in the world. The artist carried the Mona Lisa with him until he died and was clearly aware of its significance. After the painting was produced there were questions raised about the identity of the sitter. While most people agreed that it was Mona Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine silk merchant, a lot of people proposed it was, in fact, a self-portrait, and the facial features resemble a later self-portrait by Leonardo. However, despite the fact that little is known about the commissioning of the Mona Lisa, how long it took to complete or payment for the work, an early biography of Leonardo claims that it was indeed painted for Francesco del Giocondo and is a portrait of his wife. It's possible that this work was commissioned to mark one of two events - the purchase of a house in 1503 or the birth of the family's second son in 1502 after the death of their daughter three years earlier. The fine dark veil that covers Mona Lisa's hair is often believed to be a mourning veil, a piece of clothing worn to symbolize social status. Yet, the subject's clothing is rather simple and ordinary and neither her gown nor the scarf around her neck indicates her aristocratic standing. In 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris by a former employee who believed it belonged in Italy. The thief hid the painting underneath his painter's smock and left the museum. He had the painting for two years until he was seized by police and the work was safely returned to its original home.

Mona Lisa Analysis

Composition: The subject is viewed from a frontal position and is seated on a balcony. Her face stands out against two distinct areas in the background: a civilized landscape and an imaginary one. Although the observer has a bird's-eye view of this scenery, there is definite harmony between the figure and landscape. Mona Lisa is wearing very plain clothing which is markedly different from other costumes painted at the time. She wears a very dark, simple dress with a pleated bodice, with gold embroidery. The dress has a low neckline that exposes her chest. She is not wearing any jewelry and a scarf hangs from her left shoulder. There is a veil hanging over her slightly messy hair, believed to be a mourning veil. Color palette: Viewing the Mona Lisa today it appears rather drab, a mixture of dull yellow and brown tones. It seems that the work has been darkened by numerous coats of varnish that have yellowed with age. It is therefore likely that the painting was once more vibrant and colorful than it is now. Use of technique: In this work Leonardo uses sfumato - a technique where sharp edges are blurred by blended colors - which leaves the corners of the eyes and the mouth in shadow. This technique adds ambiguity to Mona Lisa's expression. Another technique employed by the artist is that of aerial perspective which means that the background of the image has been made to look hazier with fewer clear outlines than the foreground. Leonardo was one of the first painters to use this method to add greater depth to his artworks. Materials used: The Mona Lisa was painted on a poplar wood panel that was of extremely high quality and cut from a single piece of wood. On the back it appears that edging paper has been scraped off. An oak frame was used to strengthen the work in 1951 as it was slightly damaged. Use of light: Leonardo cleverly used light to define forms, model them and create a feeling of depth. His sfumato lines disappear into the shadows and into the light and he offers no contrasts or boundaries by faintly blending light and shade in a natural manner. The Mona Lisa is covered with a series of translucent glazes that add to the sense of depth and create a polished surface. Use of space: This painting is the earliest Italian portrait to concentrate on the sitter in a half-length depiction. Its vast dimensions mean that it includes the arms and hands without them touching the frame. Painted to a realistic scale, the portrait has the fullness of a sculpture. Mood, tone and emotion: The Mona Lisa is a visual representation of the ideal of happiness and the landscapes illustrated are very important. The middle distance, on level with the sitter's chest, is painted in warm colors. This is a humanized space complete with a winding road and bridge. This landscape represents the shift between the space of the sitter and the far distance, where the scenery becomes an uninhabited area of rocks and water which stretches to the horizon, which Leonardo has cleverly drawn at the level of the sitter's eyes.

Mona Lisa Critical Reception

Giorgio Vasari

The Mona Lisa earned its place in history thanks to Leonardo's innovative techniques in laying on the paint, his knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology, his interest human expression of emotion and his use of the subtle gradation of tone. Such techniques were also employed when he created other masterpieces such as The Last Supper and The Virgin of the Rocks . The Mona Lisa was highly influential in Florentine and Lombard art of the early 16th century. Some aspects of the work such as the three-quarter view of a figure against the countryside, the architectural setting and the hands joined in the foreground already existed in Flemish portraiture, particularly in the works of Hans Memling. However, in the Mona Lisa the spacial unity, the atmospheric illusionism, the grand scale and the sheer symmetry of the work were all original and were also new to Leonardo's work - none of his earlier portraits display such controlled splendor. The success of the Mona Lisa and its continuing popularity is all down to its mystery, more specifically, the elusive smile of the female. By subtly shadowing the corners of her mouth and eyes the viewer is left intrigued as to the exact nature her smile. Vasari, who is thought to have known the painting only by reputation, said that it "was so pleasing that it seemed divine rather than human; and those who saw it were amazed to find that it was as alive as the original" . He adds that the manner of painting would make even "the most confident master ... despair and lose heart. "

Mona Lisa Related Paintings

Portrait of Benedetto Portinari, Hans Memling

Francesco Sassetti and His Son Teodoro

Domenico Ghirlandaio

Portrait of a Lady known as Smeralda Bandinelli

Sandro Botticelli

Related works by the artist: Lady with an Ermine, 1490: Mona Lisa's famous smile represents the sitter in the same way that the ermine represents Cecilia Gallerani. With a more traditional pose and added sentimentality, Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine foreshadows the Mona Lisa in its inflection of light and the model's faint, subtle smile. Portrait of Isabella d'Este , 1500: None of Leonardo's rare portrait studies are linked to existing paintings. Some claim that this work is the only one truly comparable to the Mona Lisa. Related works by other artists: Hans Memling, Portrait of Benedetto Portinari, c. 1487: It was in the last quarter of the 15th century, in Italy and particularly in Florence, that artists aimed to convey the personality and physical traits of their subjects. The Mona Lisa combines several innovations, including the spatial solutions previously mastered by Flemish painters such as Hans Memling. Memling's portrait was hung in the Portinari Chapel in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence in 1487 and Leonardo must surely have seen it. The Flemish principle, pioneered by Jan van Eyck in 1428, was developed to a larger scale by Florentine painters between 1485 and 1490. The Mona Lisa was inspired by such new developments and became a model for other artists. Domenico Ghirlandaio, Francesco Sassetti and His Son Teodoro, c. 1488: The Mona Lisa also drew on the formula that Domenico Ghirlandaio had experimented with twenty years earlier in this work which was the first large-format portrait. Sandro Botticelli , Portrait of a Lady Known as Smeralda Bandinelli, 1470s: Sandro Botticelli painted this life-size portrait just before the Mona Lisa was created. In Botticelli's work the model observes us from a space distinct from the observer's.

Mona Lisa Artist

Baptism of Christ

Andrea del Verrocchio

Although Leonardo da Vinci did not dedicate his entire career to painting, the medium he regarded so highly, it was the Mona Lisa that catapulted him to fame and established his reputation as an artistic genius. A landmark in his career, this work single-handedly combines his research into the landscape, the portrait and facial expressions. Da Vinci employed the technique of sfumato (often referred to as Leonardo's smoke) to produce the Mona Lisa. Other qualities of this work are the simple dress, the dramatic landscape background, the subdued color palette and the extremely smooth nature of the painterly technique, whereby the artist used oils but applied it much like tempera and blended it on the surface to hide any trace of the brush stroke. In the last decades of the 15th century the image of the winding river and path became a pictorial custom for spatial depth. Leonardo had already employed this motif when contributing to the work of his master, Verrocchio, in Baptism of Christ in 1472. With Mona Lisa, Leonardo reverted to the more archaic format of the profile probably due to the royal status of his model. Works such as Mona Lisa are among the most esteemed and reproduced works in the history of art, rivaled only by the masterpieces of Michelangelo. Despite the fact that Leonardo never completed many of his works, and even fewer have survived, he influenced generations of artists and is today regarded as a universal mastermind.

Mona Lisa Art Period

Michelangelo

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints

In art history, the High Renaissance was a time denoting the pinnacle of the visual arts in the Italian Renaissance. Most agree that the High Renaissance began in the 1490s, with Leonardo's fresco of The Last Supper in Milan and ended in 1527 with the sacking of Rome by the troops of Charles V. The High Renaissance was a time of outstanding artistic production in Italy and the best-known examples of Italian Renaissance painting derive from artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and a young Raphael. The images in the Vatican by Michelangelo and Raphael are the epitome of High Renaissance art and their size, ambitious compositions, detailed figures and iconographic references to classical antiquity, are emblematic of this period. Although typically named as the three giants of the High Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael were not of the same age. Leonardo was the eldest; he was twenty-three when Michelangelo was born and thirty-one when Raphael was born. Raphael died in 1520 at the age of 37, the year after Leonardo, but Michelangelo's career spanned a further 45 years.

Mona Lisa Bibliography

To explore further about the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci please select from the following recommended sources. • Brown, David Alan. Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius. Yale University Press, 1998 • Da Vinci, Leonardo. Drawings. Dover Publications Inc. , 1980 • Jones, Jonathan. The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance. Simon & Schuster Ltd. , 2010 • Kemp, Martin. Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man. OUP Oxford, 2007 • Marani, Pietro C. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. , 2003 • Syson, Luke. Leonardo Da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan. National Gallery Company Ltd. , 2011 • Vezzosi, Alessandro. Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man. Thames & Hudson, 1997 • Zollner, Frank & Nathan, Johannes. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Taschen GmbH, 2007

Facts About Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, The World’s Most Famous Painting

For centuries, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has fascinated people worldwide. It’s arguably the most famous painting in art history.

Leonardo worked on it paintstakingly between 1503 and 1519 while living in Florence and Milan.

Today, the Mona Lisa , measuring just 30 x 21 inches, is displayed in Paris’ Louvre. It’s placed under shatterproof glass on a standalone blue wall. The painting even has its own room, drawing millions of visitors every year.

In fact, 80% of Louvre visitors come for the sole purpose of seeing the Mona Lisa . It’s a 21st century object of pilgrimage. Taking a selfie with her is a rite of passage.

>>> Click here to pre-book a timed entry Louvre ticket

Facts About Leonardo’s Mona Lisa

Here’s everything you need to know about the  Mona Lisa , including facts about the painting’s history, secret theories, innovations, and knockoffs. 

1. Description Of The Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa is reputedly a depiction of Lisa Gherardini, an Italian noblewoman and wife of the cloth and silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo.

It’s painted on poplar wood, not canvas. Lisa is shown as a seemingly ordinary young woman.

She’s wearing a simple house dress and delicately veiled. She sits in a loggia in front of either an imaginary or Tuscan landscape.

Lisa sits with her arms folded with her hands on a chair, as she gazes out at the viewer. Her irises are at the sides of her eyes. This creates the effect of her eyes following the viewer.

She’s an active participant in the viewing. Not just an object to be admired.

The convention at the time was to paint all portraits of women as symbolic representations of the Virgin Mary.

Leonardo adopted this trope, but in his own unique way. He portrayed Lisa as herself, without the usual distracting trappings of wealth, gaudy jewelry etc. There were no physical symbols to identify her.

The Mona Lisa seems like a vision of peace and harmony. But there’s that famously enigmatic smile. It’s a perplexing smile, slightly seductive. Is it maternal? Is it flirtatious? Only the viewer can decide.

And what about the missing eyebrows? Some historians say that was how high class ladies rolled in the Renaissance. But scans have showed that the Mona Lisa once had eyebrows and eyelashes, which simply vanished over time or through poor restorations.

2. History of the Mona Lisa

Leonardo received the commission in 1503. At the time, portraits were rare. Only the wealthiest citizens or royalty could commission a portrait. The portraits would then convey a status on the family.

Leonardo never relinquished the Mona Lisa , carrying it with him at all times. The painting was in perpetual process. Year after year, Leonardo added small subtle and perfecting strokes and glazes. The painting has been heavily reworked over time.

At the time, the portrait was known as La Giaconda . It was art historian and artist Giorgio Vasari that first gave it the name of Mona Lisa in his Lives of the Artists . Mona comes from the word madonna.

Leonardo never delivered the portrait to its probable patron. Instead, Leonardo took it with him when he went to work as a court artist for King Francis I in the Loire Valley .

Why? One theory is that Lisa was having an affair with Giuliano de Medici, the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

He had moved to France. Perhaps Leonardo was bringing him the portrait? An affair would explain why Mona Lisa is wearing only an intimate house dress that would never be seen in public. And it would also explain why she’s not wearing a wedding ring in the portrait.

Or, perhaps the Mona Lisa was just Leonardo’s muse, his favorite painting. One he couldn’t bear to be parted from it. This is the theory you’ll find in the fictional book about Leonardo and Michelangelo, Oil and Marble.

After Leonardo’s death, his heirs sold the Mona Lisa to Francis I. The king kept it at the Chateau de Fontainebleau. King Louis XIV later moved the painting to Versailles . Following the French Revolution, it was moved to the Louvre .

3. Leonardo’s Artistic Innovations in the Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa represents several artistic innovations. The first thing is that it’s half length in 3/4 profile. Previously, portraits were just busts, usually shown sideways with the figure in stark profile. It was a static stiff pose.

Leonardo turned the head to the viewer, twisted the position, and added hands. This had the effect of making the portrait look much more natural and full of movement. Leonardo first did that in his Portrait of Genevra de’Benci (now in the National Gallery in Washington D.C .)

The Mona Lisa is also among the world’s first portraits to depict the sitter before an imaginary landscape using an aerial perspective. Behind Lisa is a hazy and rocky landscape. The sensuous curves of the sitter’s hair and clothing are echoed in the shape of the landscape behind her.

Third, it’s unusual for a Renaissance portrait to depict a person smiling. The smile may be the result of watching entertainment. According to art historian Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo brought musicians to portrait sitting to elevate the tedium of posing for so long.

Fourth, the painting has Leonardo’s signature sfumato technique. Sfumato means smoke. It results in forms “without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane.”

Leonardo loved oil paint and its translucency. He loved that it dried slowly, giving him time to rework lines and shading.

Leonardo used both brushes and his own fingertips and palms to blend the paint and create an atmospheric quality. He didn’t want a single brush stroke to be perceptible.

4. Who Is the Mona Lisa ?

It’s generally accepted that the sitter is Lisa del Giocondo. But, it’s not definitively proven and theories abound.

Some theorists have been proposed that the model is Leonardo’s mother or his young lover and pupil Salai. (Mona Lisa is an anagram for Mon Salai.)

Others posit that Mona Lisa is an androgynous composite portrait of a male and female. Our a self portrait of Leonardo in drag. Leonardo experts and the Louvre dispute these fanciful claims.

In 2008, the University of Heidelberg says it has the answer. The Mona Lisa is Lisa. In a cache of notes written in 1503, a Florentine official, Agostino Vespucci, writes that the artist was working on a portrait of Lisa Gioconda.

5. Why Is The Mona Lisa So Famous?

What makes this small portrait of a Florentine woman so famous? Despite her renown, most people don’t know how she got famous in the first place.

Well, the Mona Lisa didn’t always have fame of supernatural dimensions. The painting only vaulted to superstar status when it was stolen by an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia, who worked at the Louvre.

Peruggia wanted to bring Mona Lisa back to its “real home” in Italy. He detached the Mona Lisa from the wall in the night between August 20-21 in 1911. With knowledge of the Louvre, he quietly left the museum hiding the painting under his overcoat.

News of the theft made headlines around the world. The painting became grafted onto the world’s collective consciousness. Even Picasso was a suspect for a time. Though he was released after questioning.

Initially, the Louvre left the empty frame exposed on the gallery wall. Then, the Louvre put the Portrait of Baldassar Castiglione by Raphael in its place.

READ : Guide to Raphael’s Most Famous Paintings

The Mona Lisa was missing for over two years. It was only recovered when Peruggia tried to sell it in Florence.

The painting went on a tour in Italy and was then returned to its rightful place at the Louvre. But its recovery, like its theft, caused a media circus.

6. Secret Messages In The Mona Lisa

From the moment the Mona Lisa was created, writers and researchers have ruminated on the processes Leonardo used when creating the ambiguous and suggestive Mona Lisa . Some theorists speculate that he left secret coded messages for the viewer.

People, critics, and even doctors have engaged in wild sleuthing. They’ve speculated about everything — her smile, her eyes (letters in them), her physical condition (pregnancy, cholesterol problem, thyroid disease, missing teeth, paralyzed facial nerve), and animals shapes drawn in the painting.

Leonardo scholar Martin Kemp calls them “wild theories and untrammeled fantasy.” The need to find secret symbols in a painting seems inspired by novelist Dan Brown, whose book The Da Vinci Code brought slews of visitors to the Louvre.

The most popular theory is that the Mona Lisa is a portrait of a man. Either Leonardo himself or his pupil and possible lover, Salai, dressed as a woman.

7. Oldest Leonardo Workshop Copy Of The Mona Lisa

There is an almost exact copy of the Mona Lisa in the Prado Museum in Madrid Spain. It was discovered in 2012, when the painting was cleaned and the black background removed.

The painting is recognized as the earliest replica of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa . Prior to its restoration, the painting was categorized as an anonymous copy. But when the Prado restored the painting, the striking background was unveiled. It was then reattributed to Leonardo’s workshop.

Scientific analysis led art historians to conclude that it was painted by an artist in Leonardo’s workshop, possibly his pupil Salai or Melzi. The artist likely sat beside Leonardo and copied his work stroke for stroke.

Each and every adjustment that Leonardo made on his Mona Lisa was repeated in the copy. Since it’s been cleaned, the copycat work is much brighter than the Mona Lisa .

8. Did Leonardo Paint Another Mona Lisa ?

Did you know that some historians suspect the Louvre’s Mona Lisa is a copy of an earlier version? There’s another painting of the same woman, Lisa del Giocondo, allegedly painted a decade or so before the Louvre’s version.

Was this Leonardo’s prequel?

The lookalike painting was initially dubbed the Isleworth Mona Lisa. Isleworth was the studio of maverick English connoisseur Hugh Blaker, who spotted the painting in an old manor house. It’s now been rebranded as the “Earlier Mona Lisa.”

The painting is owned by a consortium of Swiss businessmen. Though there’s a dispute in an Italian court over ownership, with a London family making a partial claim.

The two paintings bear a startling resemblance, though the Earlier Mona Lisa has been cleaned and restored. Leonardo often made two versions of many masterpieces.

Renaissance art historian Vasari referred to the Mona Lisa as “unfinished” while the Louvre’s Mona Lisa at least seems finished. The Isleworth version has columns. These same columns are found in a Raphael sketch of Mona Lisa , made after visiting Leonardo’s studio where he may have seen the painting.

But most da Vinci experts think the Isleworth Mona Lisa is just another in a long series of Mona Lisa variants and imitations. It’s a tedious and stilted copy with a subpar background and no telltale underdrawings. Kemp gave it a critical smack down . Skepticism remains the order of the day.

9. Influence of Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa had a tremendous influence on other Renaissance artists like Raphael, Michelangelo, Filipino Lippi, and Andrea del Sarto.

The Mona Lisa isn’t “just a portrait.” Leonardo’s innovation kicked off new trends in portrait painting that would continue into the 1800s.

10. Attacks on the Mona Lisa

Not everyone write fan mail letters to the Mona Lisa. She’s been attacked several times.

In 1956, a vandal threw acid at the painting. Another hurled a rock, chipping a pigments on Mona Lisa’s left elbow. There’s every so slight evidence of damage.

In 1974, someone squirted spray paint. In 2009, a deranged woman tossed a coffee mug at the painting. The glass fended off these latter two attempts.

11. Where To See The Mona Lisa ?

The Mona Lisa is displayed in the Denon Wing of the Louvre, specifically in the Salle des États (Room 711). This room is dedicated to Italian Renaissance art.

The painting is protected in a climate-controlled, bulletproof glass case to ensure its preservation. Due to its popularity, the Mona Lisa often attracts large crowds.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my facts about Leonardo’s Mona Lisa . You may enjoy these guides to other famous Renaissance artists:

• Michelangelo Trail in Florence
• Leonardo da Vinci Trail in Milan
• Piero della Francesco Trail in Italy
• Andrea del Verrocchio’s Art in Florence
• Caravaggio Trail in Rome
• Bernini Trail in Rome
• Botticelli Trail in Florence
• Artemisia Gentileschi Paintings
• Raphael’s Most Famous Paintings
• Art Works of Giorgio Vasari
• Art Works of Donatello

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Last Updated on January 18, 2024 by Leslie Livingston

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The Mona Lisa: A Brief History of da Vinci's Famous Painting

Leonardo da Vinci,  Mona Lisa, oil on panel, circa 1503. Detail.

Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Mona Lisa , the world’s most famous, recognizable, and copied artwork, has a storied history. Painted between 1503 and 1519, it was owned by French royalty for centuries. Liberated by Revolutionary forces, the painting briefly adorned Napoleon’s bedroom, then was installed in the Louvre. Over 80% of Louvre visitors come specifically to see Mona Lisa . Due to new queuing practices, visitors have only 30 seconds to admire the painting’s legendary mystique.

Thought by most scholars to be a portrait of Italian noble Lisa del Giocondo , this beautiful, dark-haired woman with an enigmatic gaze has fascinated people for ages. Unlike most 16th-century portraits of nobility, which showed off their social status and wealth with flamboyant clothing, hairstyles and accessories, Mona Lisa is dressed in elegant simplicity, which draws attention to her face.

Painted in a revolutionary ¾ length pose—contrary to typical Italian portraiture, which used full figure poses—Mona Lisa is not stoic or demure. Deviating from traditional female portraiture, she meets our eyes directly, as a man typically would, turning slightly towards the viewer, smiling at some secret amusement. Da Vinci’s expert portrayal of a subtle smile illustrates exhaustive understanding of human anatomy, while his deliberately irregular brushstrokes over her face give the skin a realistic texture.

The empty iron brackets at the Louvre that once held the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa showcases many painterly techniques da Vinci employed, including sfumato and aerial perspective. DaVinci used sfumato, which means “vanished or evaporated,” to create imperceptible transitions between light and dark, while the background fades into the distance. This is another deviation from traditional Italian portraiture, which painted the background in the same sharp focus as the central figure.

Relatively unknown to the general public, but lauded as a masterwork by artists and intelligentsia, Mona Lisa ’s 1911 theft brought notoriety. Picasso, French poet Apollinaire and American tycoon JP Morgan were all suspects during the investigation, but the actual culprit was Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia, with two accomplices. One of the accomplices claimed to have made six indistinguishable forgeries , leading to a rumor that the Mona Lisa currently in the Louvre is a fake.

The Mona Lisa in the Louvre's Salle des États and protected by a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure topped with bulletproof glass. Photo by Joe Parks .  

Now exhibited in a climate controlled case made of bulletproof glass, Mona Lisa has survived vandalism and attempted theft. Moved into a glass case sometime in the 1950’s, because an obsessive fan tried to cut it out with a razor blade and take it home, the painting was slightly damaged in 1956, when a thrown rock shattered the glass case, dislodging a speck of pigment near her left elbow. The newer bulletproof case has continued to protect it. In 1974, while on loan for an exhibition at theTokyo Museum, the painting was sprayed with red paint by an activist protesting lack of disability access. Back at the Louvre, in 2009, a woman threw a teacup at it because she'd been denied French citizenship.

Also one of the most expensive paintings in the world, Mona Lisa became a Guinness World Records holder in 1962 for the highest known painting insurance valuation, $100 million, which is at least $870 million today. Given that it’s deemed irreplaceable, it’s probably worth more.

Megan D Robinson

Megan D Robinson writes for Art & Object and the Iowa Source.

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“Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci – Facts About the “Mona Lisa”

The Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1506) by Leonardo da Vinci seemingly needs no introduction as almost all the world is well acquainted with this mysterious beauty and Renaissance masterpiece. This is the painting we will explore in the article below.

Table of Contents

• 1 Artist Abstract: Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?
• 2.1.1 A New Take on Portrait Paintings
• 2.1.2 Interesting Facts About the Mona Lisa
• 2.1.3 The Mona Lisa in Pop Culture
• 3.1 Visual Description: Subject Matter
• 3.3 Texture
• 3.5 Shape and Form
• 4 The Mona Lisa as an Objectified Icon
• 5.1 Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?
• 5.2 How Much Is the Mona Lisa Worth?
• 5.3 Who Was Mona Lisa?
• 5.4 Where Is the Mona Lisa Painting?
• 5.5 When Was the Mona Lisa Painted?

Artist Abstract: Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian painter from the High Renaissance , he was believed to be born in the town called Vinci, or possibly near it. His date of birth was April 15, 1452, and he was believed to have died of a stroke on May 2, 1519 at the Château du Clos-Lucé in Amboise in France.

Da Vinci was known as a genius and polymath; he was an artist, scientist, engineer, draughtsman, architect, and sculptor, among many other skills and talents.

He trained under the Italian Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. He was commissioned by notable figures like Matthias Corvinus the King of Hungary and Francis I the King of France. He also worked as a military engineer for Cesare Borgia, who was Pope Alexander VI’s son. Some of his famous paintings include The Virgin of the Rocks (c. 1483-1486), The Last Supper (c. 1498), and, of course, the famous Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1506).  

Mona Lisa (c. 1503 – 1517) by Leonardo da Vinci in Context

We will start with a contextual analysis, uncovering interesting facts about the Mona Lisa and answering the often-asked questions like: “Who was Mona Lisa?”, “ Why is the Mona Lisa so famous? ”, “Where is the Mona Lisa painting?”, “When was the Mona Lisa painted?”, and “How much is the Mona Lisa worth?” We will then discuss a formal analysis, providing a visual description of the Mona Lisa painting as well as the artistic techniques Leonardo da Vinci utilized that made this painting so enchanting to look at.   

Contextual Analysis: A Brief Socio-Historical Overview

The widely held consensus on who commissioned the painting Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is Francesco del Giocondo; he was reportedly a silk merchant, and his wife was Lisa del Giocondo (her maiden name was Gherardini), who was the subject for the Mona Lisa . The term “mona” originates from the Italian word Monna , which is utilized as a manner of address.

The famous portrait painting is also titled the Italian “La Gioconda” and the French “La Joconde”, which translates to “jocund” or “jovial”.

Significant information about the Mona Lisa painting, and regarding the question, “Where is the Mona Lisa ?” as well as the woman’s identity originates from the Italian writer and historian Giorgio Vasari and his seminal text The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects (1550).

Vasari is often quoted as writing, “Leonardo undertook to execute, for Francesco del Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa for his wife, and after he had lingered over it for four years, he left it unfinished; and the work is today in the possession of King Francis of France, at Fontainebleau”.

However, many scholars who have researched Leonardo da Vinci’s life and the “Mona Lisa” painting have disputed the accuracy of Vasari’s account due to his potential lack of information and prior knowledge of Da Vinci’s circumstances at the time he wrote about it.

Furthermore, because the version of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum is reportedly “finished” questions arise about why Vasari mentioned that it was unfinished and whether he was referring to a possible other copy of the Mona Lisa .

Other discovered sources have verified that Leonardo da Vinci worked on a painting of Lisa del Giocondo. Evidence was found in what is known as the “Heidelberg Document”, found by Dr. Armin Schlechter while he was cataloging the documents. He saw a note, which was dated October 1503 and written by Agostino Vespucci, who was a Florentine clerk and chancellor, on a 1477 copy from one of the letters of the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero.

On that note, Vespucci wrote about Leonardo da Vinci’s project of painting Lisa del Giocondo. He also compared Da Vinci’s work to Apelles of Kos, who was an ancient Greek painter.  

However, apparently, the Mona Lisa painting was never given to the commissioner, Francesco del Giocondo, and Da Vinci kept it with him until he died, possibly also adding the finishing touches to it. Reportedly, when he moved to France in 1516 to live and work at the Château du Clos-Lucé in Amboise, he also worked on the painting and left it to his apprentice known as Salaì. There is wide scholarly debate around the notion that there was more than one copy of the Mona Lisa , which makes the question we raised earlier, “Where is the Mona Lisa ?”, more complex.

Notably, the copy at the Prado Museum is thought to have been painted by Da Vinci’s apprentice Salaì, and possibly copied while Leonardo da Vinci was working on his original copy.

Furthermore, when the Prado copy was cleaned it also provided more visual information in terms of the colors utilized as it did not have the yellow layer that the Louvre’s Mona Lisa has. Additionally, the composition also depicts two columns on either side of the Mona Lisa, which are not in full view in the Louvre’s painting.

A New Take on Portrait Paintings

Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the Mona Lisa , depicted the half-length portrait in a new way compared to the common profile (side) formats of portrait paintings. Here we see the sitter almost completely facing us, the viewers.

This more frontal format was also believed to influence numerous other artists after the “Mona Lisa” painting.

It was also believed that Leonardo da Vinci took inspiration from the Northern Renaissance painters who painted portraits in a similar manner to that of the Mona Lisa . A notable example that has been pointed out includes Portrait of a Young Man at Prayer (c. 1485-1494) by Hans Hemling.

Interesting Facts About the Mona Lisa

It is also interesting to note that the Mona Lisa has been stolen and vandalized on several occasions. In 1911, she was stolen by the Italian Vincenzo Peruggia, who worked at the Louvre and wanted to return it to its rightful place in Italy.

He had the painting for around two years until it was discovered after he wanted to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery director who alerted the police.

In 1956, Hugo Unjaga Villegas, who was from Bolivia, threw a rock/stone at the Mona Lisa painting. Reportedly he was quoted as stating that he had a stone in his pocket and had the idea to throw it at the painting. 

The “Mona Lisa” painting was again the victim of a woman, Tomoko Yonezu, at the Tokyo National Museum, who sprayed red paint protesting the museum’s policies regarding access for disabled people.

On another occasion in 2009 at the Louvre Museum, a Russian woman broke a teacup against the Mona Lisa painting out of anger for not being granted French citizenship. Recently, in May of this year (2022), a man dressed in a wig, a woman’s outfit, and in a wheelchair, threw a piece of cake at the beloved painting of Lisa del Giocondo, the Mona Lisa .

His actions were reportedly motivated to bring attention to climate change, exclaiming to everyone there, “Think of the Earth! There are people who are destroying the Earth! Think about it. Artists tell you: think of the Earth. That’s why I did this.”

On all the occasions the “Mona Lisa” was vandalized, the painting itself was not badly damaged, and it was mostly protected by the glass casing that surrounded it.

The Mona Lisa in Pop Culture

The Mona Lisa has become more than a painting, it has become a centerpiece in the art world. From starting as an icon of portraiture during the Renaissance era to the burgeoning overstimulation of imagery and information in the 21st century, the Mona Lisa become an icon of pop culture, oftentimes as parody and satire. 

Dada artists like Marcel Duchamp produced L .H.O.O.Q (1919), which is a postcard depicting the Mona Lisa with a mustache and goatee drawn on her face. The letters “L.H.O.O.Q” are written underneath with various scribbles on the postcard. Reportedly, Duchamp was playing on the ideas of gender reversal.

This was also known as one of his “ready-mades”, which were ordinary and everyday objects that were referred to as art.   

Then, before 1919, the French artist Arthur Sapeck (his original name was Eugène Bataille) created Le Rire (The Laugh) (1883), which featured the Mona Lisa with a pipe in her mouth. The Pop artist Andy Warhol also re-created his own depiction of the Mona Lisa in his painting titled Colored Mona Lisa (1963), which depicts several iterations or duplications of the portrait on one canvas in different colors, namely, pink, yellow, black, and blue in his characteristic silk-screen prints.

This was not Warhol’s only rendition of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. He also created the Mona Lisa (1963), which depicts four images of her in two different formats, made from acrylic and silkscreen on one canvas.

From oil paint to ink, the “Mona Lisa” has also been reproduced by the contemporary artist Lennie Mace, who drew her with a ballpoint pen, titled “Mona a’la Mace” (1993). This has been referred to as a “PENting”.

Beyond modern and contemporary art , the Mona Lisa has also been featured in films and on book covers. References to the Mona Lisa include films like Horton Hears a Who (2008), Elf (2003), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), and The Mona Lisa Identity (2019), and we will find her on the book cover of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (2003). 

Formal Analysis: A Brief Compositional Overview

In the formal analysis below, we will take a closer look at the Mona Lisa painting, providing a visual description, and the notable techniques utilized by Leonardo da Vinci. We will outline these in terms of the primary art elements like color , texture, line, shape, form, and space.

Visual Description: Subject Matter

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci depicts a portrait of a woman sitting in an armchair (the armchair is known as a “pozzetto” chair); her body is mostly turned facing us, the viewers. Her left arm (on our right) rests on the left side of the armchair while her right hand is gently placed over her left hand.

This gives her the appearance of slightly leaning to her left as she sits comfortably, yet upright. 

The Mona Lisa is dressed in soft silky garments gathered around her body and there appears to be a garment over her left shoulder, which is possibly a scarf. Her bodice is pleated with a golden embroidered trimming, which also reveals her upper neck and chest area.

The Mona Lisa ’s hair is loose and hangs to just below her shoulders, slightly visible on both sides of her revealed upper chest area. There is a fine dark veil over her head that appears to hang down the length of her hair. She is also not wearing any jewelry.

Behind the seated figure of the “Mona Lisa” is an extensive landscape, the closest appears to be a dry area of land with a winding road to the left that leads to a large body of water further into the distance.

To the right, in the distance below, is a bridge with what appears to be another winding way that leads to the body of water in the distance that seems to lead to an ocean further ahead. Surrounding this landscape are jagged mountainous protrusions.

The landscape behind the Mona Lisa has been a topic of wide debate.

Some believe it is an imaginary setting by Leonardo da Vinci or a backdrop that the artist utilized for the sitting, while others have estimated that it is in fact based on a real scene from the Italian countryside. Furthermore, Lisa del Giocondo, who was Mona Lisa , appears to be sitting on a balcony or porch, otherwise referred to as a loggia in Italian.

This is evident by the long vertical structure behind her as well as indications of pillars on either side of her.

The Mona Lisa painting has faded in color over the years due to natural discoloration of the oil paint, which has left it in yellowed and brown hues. Conservation efforts like varnishing have also stripped some of its layers of colors.

However, some of the colors in the “Mona Lisa” painting would have included greens, blues, reds, and skin-tone, or flesh, colors. 

If we look at the tactile texture of the Mona Lisa painting, the oil paint creates a smooth texture over the composition. There are also implied textures, for example, the fabrics from the Mona Lisa’s clothing like the soft and translucent texture in her veil over her hair and the silky folds from her dress sleeves, the soft curls from her hair, and the smooth and fairness of her skin.

The landscape behind her creates a contrasting effect due to the implied roughness of the rocky mountain terrain.

Leonardo da Vinci applied the sfumato technique , which we will notice in many of his artworks. The word sfumato originates from Italian, which means “vague” or “soft”, and it consists of the subtle “blending” of tones or shades so that they naturally transition. We see this subtle “gradation” or transition of light and dark, as some sources describe it, in Mona Lisa’s mouth and its corners as well as the corners of her eyes.

This gives a more naturalistic effect to the composition and the subject matter, which also eliminates obvious outlines.

Because the Mona Lisa painting is a portrait, the orientation is vertical, which gives it implied vertical linearity. However, the landscape behind her emphasizes horizontal lines created by the waterscape. Additionally, there is also a horizontal line created behind the Mona Lisa from the balcony.

Furthermore, there are curved lines created by the winding pathway in the distance, which creates a subtle contrasting effect with the main subject sitting in the foreground, who also has various curved lines created by the fabric folds as well as her overall voluptuousness.

Shape and Form

The Mona Lisa painting appears mostly organic in its shape and form, which further heightens the naturalism. This is evident in the figure of Mona Lisa herself as well as the landscape behind her, which is a representation of nature portraying the natural curvatures created by the pathway and the water flow, as well as the sharp edges from the craggy terrain.

Leonardo da Vinci utilized aerial or atmospheric perspective to give the illusion of depth and three-dimensional space. This was done by creating a hazy or blurred background, as we see in the distant mountains, compared to the foreground, which we see in the figure of the Mona Lisa, who appears clearer and in focus.

Furthermore, depth is created through scale. For example, the bridge to the right in the landscape, as well as the natural terrain in the background appear smaller in scale compared to the subject matter in the foreground.

The Mona Lisa as an Objectified Icon

It is important to note that there is extensive research and conjecture around the Mona Lisa painting, from there being several copies, if the landscape is in fact real or fictional, to the identity of the sitter herself, some believe it was Salaì and others believe it could have been Leonardo da Vinci’s mother.

The Mona Lisa has become a “celebrity” among paintings, the object of many affections and outrages. While we have not covered all the facts, theories, and conspiracies about the Mona Lisa in this article, we have outlined a few of its important aspects and we encourage you to conduct deeper research about this famous portrait painting.

Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the “Mona Lisa”, created a timeless masterpiece that will undoubtedly raise eyebrows for even more centuries to come. In the words of Giorgio Vasari when he described this sitting beauty: “And in this work of Leonardo there was a smile so pleasing, that it was a thing more divine than human to behold, and it was held to be something marvelous, in that it was not other than alive.”

Take a look at our  Mona Lisa  painting webstory here!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the mona lisa so famous.

The Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1517) by Leonardo da Vinci has achieved a high level of fame for the mystery surrounding its inception, the subject matter, as well as its provenance. There are numerous theories surrounding it and many unanswered questions. One of the most mysterious qualities that make this painting so famous is the Mona Lisa’s smile. 

How Much Is the Mona Lisa Worth?

The Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1517) is believed to be over $800 to $900 million in insurance value, which was estimated from 2021. In 1962, its insurance value was estimated at $100 million.

Who Was Mona Lisa?

The subject of the Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1517) was the Italian Lisa Gherardini, who later became Lisa del Giocondo. She was married to Francesco del Giocondo, who was a wealthy tradesman. Some believe the subject of the Mona Lisa could have been Isabella d’Este, but evidence suggests against the proposition.  

Where Is the Mona Lisa Painting?

The Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1517) by Leonardo da Vinci is housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. It was reportedly installed in the Louvre after the French Revolution; some sources suggest it during 1797 and others during 1804. Before then, it was reportedly first at the Palace of Fontainebleau and then at the Palace of Versailles.

When Was the Mona Lisa Painted?

Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the Mona Lisa , was believed to have started the oil painting from 1503 to around 1517. It was believed that he worked on the painting until before his death and that there was more than one copy of the painting, which he left for his assistant, whose name was Salaì. 

Alicia du Plessis is a multidisciplinary writer. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Art History and Classical Civilization, as well as two Honors, namely, in Art History and Education and Development, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. For her main Honors project in Art History, she explored perceptions of the San Bushmen’s identity and the concept of the “Other”. She has also looked at the use of photography in art and how it has been used to portray people’s lives.

Alicia’s other areas of interest in Art History include the process of writing about Art History and how to analyze paintings. Some of her favorite art movements include Impressionism and German Expressionism. She is yet to complete her Masters in Art History (she would like to do this abroad in Europe) having given it some time to first develop more professional experience with the interest to one day lecture it too.

Alicia has been working for artincontext.com since 2021 as an author and art history expert. She has specialized in painting analysis and is covering most of our painting analysis.

Learn more about Alicia du Plessis and the Art in Context Team .

Cite this Article

Alicia, du Plessis, ““Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci – Facts About the “Mona Lisa”.” Art in Context. August 31, 2022. URL: https://artincontext.org/mona-lisa-by-leonardo-da-vinci/

du Plessis, A. (2022, 31 August). “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci – Facts About the “Mona Lisa”. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/mona-lisa-by-leonardo-da-vinci/

du Plessis, Alicia. ““Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci – Facts About the “Mona Lisa”.” Art in Context , August 31, 2022. https://artincontext.org/mona-lisa-by-leonardo-da-vinci/ .

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The Most Famous Artists and Artworks

Discover the most famous artists, paintings, sculptors…in all of history! 

MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS AND ARTWORKS

Discover the most famous artists, paintings, sculptors!

World History Edu

Lisa Gherardini: The woman in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa

by World History Edu · February 17, 2023

Biography of Lisa Gherardini (1479-1542), the woman depicted in the Mona Lisa.

The Mona Lisa is widely considered as the most famous artwork in history. While we continue to celebrate Leonardo da Vinci, the artist of this masterpiece, it would be appropriate to highlight the contributions of some individuals who made this work possible.

One of such people is Lisa Gherardini. The Italian noblewoman has been recognized as the model used for the famous 16th-century painting. It is for this reason that the art is sometimes referred to as the “Portrait of Lisa Gherardini”.

Wondering who she was and why she was used in the painting? This article has all the information to satisfy your curiosity.

Read More: Leonardo da Vinci’s Most Famous Masterpieces

Who was Lisa Gherardini?

Lisa was born in 1479 and was a native of Via Maggio in the Republic of Florence. She was a descendant of the House of Gherardini. The family has been described as a founder of the Republic of Florence. Her parents were Lucrezia del Caccia (mother) and Antonmaria di Noldo Gherardini (father).

She was named after her grandfather’s wife and was raised together with six other siblings – three brothers and three sisters. It has been said that Lisa got to know Leonardo when she and her family settled around Santa Croce. At that place, they stayed near the house of the artist’s father Ser Piero da Vinci.

In 1495, at the age of 15 years, Lisa became the wife of a wealthy silk and cloth merchant called Francesco del Giocondo. Francesco had already married two wives, making Lisa his third spouse. The couple had five children namely Piero, Andrea, Camilla, Piera, and Marietta. Two of their children (Marietta and Camilla) became nuns in the Catholic Church.

In 1499, her husband, Francesco, became a government official and was named to the Dodici Buonomini position. His love for his third wife was unmatched. In his 1537 will, Francesco decided to reward Lisa with jewelry and expensive clothes. He also made arrangements for his wife’s future.

How she became the face of the Mona Lisa

In her teens, Lisa del Giocondo tied the knot with a very wealthy merchant called Francesco del Giocondo. The couple had five children. Image: Lisa Gherardini depicted in da Vinci’s masterpiece “Mona Lisa”

Francesco and his family were lovers of art. They were connected to many Renaissance artists including Domenico Puligo and Leonardo da Vinci. The latter was contracted by Francesco to work on a portrait of his third wife. It was also believed that the artwork was to celebrate the acquisition of their home, as well as the birth of their son, Andrea.

Da Vinci started the work around 1506 and completed in 1517. The art’s original name was “La Gioconda” which was in reference to the married name of Lisa. Its current name was revealed in da Vinci’s biography by Giorgio Vasari, a renowned art historian. In his book, Vasari confirmed that the image in the painting was indeed Lisa.

The painting portrayed how calm and virtuous Lisa was. The word “Monna” is a contraction of the word “madonna” which translates into English as “my lady” or “madam”. With this, we can say that the English name for the “Mona Lisa” is “My Lady Lisa”.

Who owns the Mona Lisa?

Leonardo did not hand over the artwork to the commissioners, the del Giocondo family. However, it is believed that the painting was left in the care of Salaì, one of the apprentices of da Vinci. After the death of the Italian artist in 1519, the work was acquired by the King of France, Francis I. Since then, it has become one of the country’s most cherished properties. It has spent most of its time at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

Read More: Who are the 10 Greatest Renaissance Artists?

Though Lisa’s works have not been documented, it is very possible that the Italian noblewoman played a huge part in the development of his husband’s business. As virtuous as she was, Lisa had a hand in the training of her kids.

The Via Maggio-born socialite fell ill after her husband died in 1538. After battling with the sickness for some time, Lisa joined passed away in 1542. There are some accounts that state that the noblewoman passed away in 1551.

Tags: Francesco del Giocondo Italy Leonardo da Vinci Lisa Gherardini Mona Lisa Women’s History

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