Mona Lisa is probably the most famous portrait in art history. The Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci began the picture in 1503 and completed it before his death in 1519. The oil painting on wood now hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris.
The Mona Lisa is probably a portrait of the young wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a rich silk merchant of Florence, Italy. Mona Lisa is a shortened form of Madonna Lisa (my lady, Lisa). The woman is also often called La Gioconda, which is the feminine form of her husband’s last name.
The portrait shows a young woman seated on a balcony high above a landscape. Leonardo used a pyramid design to place the woman simply and calmly in the space of the painting. Her folded hands form the front corner of the pyramid. Her breast, neck, and face glow in the same light that softly models her hands. The light gives the variety of living surfaces an underlying geometry of spheres and circles, which includes the arc of her famous smile. However, such mysterious smiles were a common feature of portraits during Leonardo’s time.
Behind the figure, a vast landscape recedes to icy mountains. Winding paths and a distant bridge give only the slightest indications of human presence. The blurred outlines, graceful figure, dramatic contrasts of light and dark, and overall feeling of calm are characteristic of Leonardo’s style.
See also Leonardo da Vinci .
