Lisa, Lisa, Lisa...

I will just come out and say it...

I don't like the 'Mona Lisa'!
There, I've said it. I feel better now. :)

Alright, I now feel that I must clarify this my dislike for her... It's not that I hate this piece of work, but I do not find it to be as "glorious" as everyone else does. 'La Gioconda' (as the 'Mona Lisa' is also known) is a brilliant start to a masterpiece, but it's not my most favorite piece of Leonardo's work, in fact I wouldn't put her in the top five.

She's a beautiful woman, but so is La Belle Ferroniere (which if it wasn't painted by the Master himself, was done by his disciple, although I feel he may have painted her himself,) and Lady with an Ermine. I feel that Leonardo's horse sketches and his painting of the last supper have a great deal more weight on me than this one piece that everyone raves about, (whether or not they've actually seen it.) Sadly I have found Lisa rather, dare I say it... boring.

Master painter Leonardo, from Vinci, did have a great eye for detail and it shows in the wrinkle of her clothes, waves of her hair, and the jaggedness of the mountains. Despite my slight dislike for her, I do find that she shows the brilliance that was Leonardo, the style which he used to paint, to add more depth to the 2-D works. Just recently, scientist reveled the secrets* of how he created the depth and 'other world' look, using a technic called "sfumato.

I would venture to guess that part of the reason she may not make my lis of favorites has to do with the blind devotion surrounding her. I have heard people say things such as "she's the best piece of work he ever did", however when asked of which works of Leonardo they've seen, they reply "none." In fact there are a great many who love this work but have never really even looked at it, let alone anything else he did. She's become such an icon that stories were created about her, such as the romantic tale of a man saving this piece from a fire, having to cut her out of a much larger mural. I do not know if that is true, but I do know that she may be one of many portraits of the same woman. There are many more Mona's and all in the nude, that was displayed in an Italian museum, the Museo Ideale.**)

Seems as though there's a bit lost in translation, but in summary, it seems as though there's an original piece of 'Gioconda nel Nudo' by Leonardo and these here are the works of the students of his school copying it.








*Reference: Never call Leonardo just 'da Vinci, as that is not his last name. He was Leonardo, an artist, from the town of Vinci, in Italy. So people should either refer to him as Leonardo, or Leonardo da Vinci. Please if anyone reads this, tell everyone you know. ( I very much so would like to smack the associated press writer for making such a huge error!)

** For all of us who do not speak Italian:
(Dai dipini leonardeschi sconosciuti alle Giocondologie attraverso cinque secoli

Le origini, la fortuna e i “misteri” della Gioconda attraverso opere, reperti, documenti e multimedialità
A cura di Agnese Sabato e Alessandro Vezzosi

Presidente del Consiglio scientifico: 

Carlo Pedretti

Leonardo inventò un tema iconografico che per la dinamica della figura, la frontalità dello sguardo, la posizione delle mani e la concezione spaziale del paesaggio, con colonne ai lati, è in evidente rapporto con la "Gioconda" del Louvre. Essendo nuda, si può definire "Gioconda nuda" ed è stata denominata talvolta "Monna Vanna" o considerato il ritratto di una cortigiana o di una meretrice.)

iGoogle Translation of above text: 

Paintings by Leonardo unknown to Giocondologie through five centuries.

The origins, luck and the mysteries of the Mona Lisa through works , artifacts , documents and multimedia

By Agnes Saturday and Alessandro Vezzosi President of the Scientific Council : Carlo Pedrett

Leonardo invented an iconography for the dynamics of the figure, the frontal gaze , the hand position and the spatial concept of the landscape, with columns on either side , is in obvious connection with the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Being naked, you can define " naked Mona Lisa " and was sometimes called " Monna Vanna" and considered the portrait of a courtesan (or a "harlot.")