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The mind of an Artist

Figure 1: Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1519) – Leonardo Da Vinci

Without any doubt, in Leonardo's last portrait painting Mona Lisa (fig. 1), this

autonomisation and the auratification of artistic expression using a harmonious tonality and

sfumato technique came to its height (Zollner, 2012). It stands out not only as an example of the
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portrait genre and as the image in Leonardo 's hand, but it is also a distinctive creation of

creativity and rare in the reciprocity of history in late years and centuries. This portrait has

become a special case in many respects. When public museums were established as temples of

art which were dedicated to the artist's new culture and at the same time derived legitimation by

the artist, and in particular with the Paris Louvre being the core of this religion, the Mona Lisa

had increased its importance which would eventually make her a “hieroglyph of art” par

excellence (Zollner, 2012). In other words, we still view the Mona Lisa with nineteenth-century

eyes, forgetting all too easily about the deepening of meaning, mystification, and auratization

that the painting has experienced in more recent times (Zollner, 2012).

Leonardo portrayed in his painting a young woman, about 25, who turns almost entirely

to the viewer and is seated on a wooden piece of furnishings in front of a balustrade. Her hands,

one lying over the other, dominate the foreground. The midfield is created by its upper body and

face and wildly roughened mountains that seem to disappear into a distant green-blue sky. We

see a path in the barren landscape on the left and a river on the west that seems to have run dry.

The individual context components do not provide a clear indication of the moment, location,

and significance of the scene (Bambach, et al., 2017). Although the bridge over the river bed

remains hidden, a human presence in a natural environment that appears unchanged otherwise is

marked.

The portrait itself provides further indication of human reality: a clear smile indicates the

female's delicate facial movement; a wild veil covers her freely flowing hair; her dark gown has

complex platforms, and brotherhood with geometric designs, particularly below the neckline.

The wider folds on the sleeves reveal a much quieter fabric. The hands of your soft plasticity lie

on a plain wooden armrest.

Moreover, the portrait itself provides further indication of human reality: a clear smile

indicates the female's delicate facial movement; a wild veil covers her freely flowing hair; her

dark gown has intricate pleats and embroidery with geometrical designs, particularly below the

neckline. The wider folds on the sleeves reveal a much heavy fabric. Her hands are soft plasticity

lies on a plain wooden armrest. For its flawless execution of detail, Mona Lisa was considered

the most professional expression of painterly talent and the leading example of the artistic

mimesis of nature (Boas, 1940). Their surreal presence, along with their utter absence of the

symbols and features that were otherwise so typical in Renaissance Portraits, also stood in the

same way as their unfinished landscape. The name of the sitter as Lisa del Giocondo has been

determined at least.

Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), the first detailed artist biographer in contemporary art

literature, was responsible for this knowledge (Rubin, 2011). Vasari has never seen the painting,

but describes it more euphorically and more specifically as complementary parts. At the turn of

the twentieth century, Vasari’s identity was put in doubt because he never actually saw the

painting. Today, however, there is far more than one hundred years ago about the painting’s

early history: a new document of October 1503, the so-called Heidelberg Cicero, recognizes the

painting in the Florence Workshop of Leonardo and attests to its half-finished state. The

document itself gives rise to a slight sensation because its creator, Agostino Vespucci, Leonardo

's friend, mentions not one but three of his artistic paintings: he mentioned, next to the Mona

Lisa, the Battle of Anghiari and Saint Anna. Before this document was found, it was seen in a

piece published in 1991 that Mona Lisa was in Milan’s successor in 1525 at Leonardo's student

Salaì. Other documents provide insight into the history of the development of the painting in the

period 1503 to 1506 (Zollner, 1993).

A portrait he had not seen is often oddly identified by Vasari with enthusiasm. Therefore,

it is presumed, as a rule, that the biographer was unable to write his lengthy collection of vitas

alone but was dependent on co-authors and informants to support him. It seems possible that he

would have gathered from these sources all knowledge regarding Mona Lisa and thus came up

with his thorough description. A second idea follows: did Lisa del Giocondo’s portrait perhaps

appear to the contemporary spectator to be so unique and remarkable that news of it spread to

other artists and later Vasari? There are many people in favor of this.

Vasari was not only a biographer but a creative writer, which makes it harder to

determine his reliability. His story about the musicians, for example, who kept Lisa smiling

sounds like an enticing literary creation, and explaining its facial features is at least in part a

combination of imagination and literary commonplaces (Zollner, 1993). He did learn, however,

some information about Lisa’s portrait, maybe from French courts, and members of the families

of the Giocondo. With all the information available on the Giocondo family, the portrait of Lisa

should not be viewed as a mystery image that has lost its historical meaning irreversibly. In fact,

at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, the circumstances of the commission

on the painting are in keeping with Florentine patron ship and portrait. Lisa's portrait, though in a

more nuanced way than previous examples, goes on to portray women's virtue and attractiveness

in the tradition of feminine portraiture. Besides, the commission of Lisa’s portrait may also

assume a certain form of patronage, situated in the background of the Florentine Family, linked

to the devotional surrounding of the family. During this critical point in Lisa's career in 1503 and

response to the question of earlier portraiture, Leonardo’s very distinct artistic ambitions were

eventually integrated into the portrait. For Lisa’s portrait, all these points are a perfectly fair

cultural context. Therefore, we can read this portrait as a traditional painting that is viewed only
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by romanticism as mysterious and transcendental human understanding (Arbiter, 1917). Thereby,

I would suggest that the historic background I have tried to explain in this essay should be

considered for a further understanding of Leonardo’s portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.

Works Cited

Arbiter, Petronius. "A Great Work of Art: "Portrait of Mona Lisa" by Leonardo Da Vinci." The

Art World, vol. 2, no. 2, 1917, p. 160.

Bambach, Carmen C., et al. Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, 2017.

Boas, Franz. Race, Language, and Culture. U of Chicago P, 1940.

Rubin, Patricia L. The Renaissance Portrait: From Donatello to Bellini. Metropolitan Museum

of Art, 2011.

Zöllner, Frank. "„Mona Lisa“ – Das Porträt der Lisa del Giocondo." Europäische

Erinnerungsorte 2, 2012, pp. 113-124.

Zöllner, Frank. "„Mona Lisa“ – Das Porträt der Lisa del Giocondo." Europäische

Erinnerungsorte 2, 1993, pp. 113-124.