What is the Mona Lisa?

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting, in the Louvre Museum in Paris, is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Painted by Leonardo in the early 1500’s in oil on poplar wood, the original work is approximately 20 x 30″.  There’s been a lot of speculation about who the woman in the painting was.  It’s thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant called Francesco del Giocondo. The composition technique of the painting makes it one of the most studied works in the history of art and by apprentice artists. It is highly regarded for its modern framing as a portrait that could be painted now. More subtly, optical effects are created by the positioning of the young woman’s eyes and her enigmatic smile. Some people say they feel watched by the Mona Lisa, no matter where they are standing. This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a visionary, mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo’s sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa’s enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal fame.

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