Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in 1503 is probably the most famous work of art in the world.  Why has the Mona Lisa become so famous?  Let's examine what it is that makes this rather small (30.31 x 20.87 in, 77 x 53 cm) oil painting on a wood panel painted at the turn of the 16th century so compelling to viewers worldwide.


Mona Lisa, (La Gioconda), Leonardo da Vinci, 1503-06, The Louvre
The Mona Lisa is the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo.  Mona was a contraction of "Madonna" meaning "my lady", a title of respect.  In the Louvre where this is located the painting is called La Gioconda, this is both a feminine version of her husbands last name and a word in Italian that tranlates into "the joyful one" referring to her slight smile.

Leonardo was born and raised in Tuscany and studied art under Andrea del Verrochio in Florence.  After leaving his master's workshop he acquired fame as an artist in Florence, where he lived until he was 30 years old.  Then he was sent by the influential Medici family to live in Milan where he worked for both the Medici and Duke Lodovico Sforza.  The Mona Lisa was painted during the three year period when Leonardo returned to Florence.  It was commissioned by another Florentine, Francesco del Giocondo who was a wealthy silk merchant. Leonardo returned to Milan in 1506 and brought the portrait with him.

Leonardo had painted only a handful of private portraits in his career, some earlier works are below. From left we see the Portrait of Ginevra de'Benci (1474-78), a portrait known as the Lady with an Ermine (c-1490, thought to be the mistress of Lodovico Sforza the Duke of Milan, Cecilia Gallerani) and the unknown sitter called La belle Ferronière (1490-96).



All three are beautifully painted with oil on a wood panel and show the sitter in a 3/4 view.  I have arranged them in the order they were painted chronologically and the Mona Lisa would have been painted nearly 10 years after La belle Ferronière and 25 years after the de'Benci portrait.  The later two have no background which highlights the face of the sitter, the earlier work had the landscape background made popular in Florentine painting of the mid to late 15th century.

While all are extraordinarily lovely portraits, the Mona Lisa still remains one of the most famous works of art in the world which leads me back to my original question- Why has the Mona Lisa become so famous?
One reason this is so well known is that this portrait was painted using techniques ahead of its time.  When compared with portraits by other artists painted around this time the Mona Lisa is startlingly realistic.  Let's look at some examples of Italian Renaissance portrait painting from the late 15th century.

Giovanna Tornabuoni, Ghirlandaio, 1489-90, tempera on panel,
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid)

We can compare the Mona Lisa to earlier egg tempera portraits such as the one by the well known Florentine painter Ghirlandaio (above).  The style he used in his portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni was quite popular during the 1400's, the profile was influenced by Ancient Roman coins which were commonly collected in the Renaissance.  The Mona Lisa was painted less then 15 years later, Leonardo uses the more realistic 3/4 view of his sitter.  In comparison to the lovely portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, the Mona Lisa is a much more convincingly naturalistic representation.