The Mona Lisa is on display, shielded by bulletproof glass, at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. It remains one of the most visited, most written about, and most valuable works of art in the world. The Mona Lisa is greatly admired for several reasons. In this painting, Leonardo da Vinci basically created an optical illusion. He worked on it for almost fifteen years, but never actually completed his masterpiece before his death. The smile on the woman’s face is mysterious and somewhat creepy. The portrait appears to change as the viewer shifts their focus from her eyes to her lips and even the background appears different on either side of her. The reason for this is due to the peripheral vision, as well as the sfumato technique and shadows used by the artist. When observed directly, the ambiguous smile and eyes seem to change, depending on the focal point. The painting seems to come to life.
By using the sfumato technique, Leonardo da Vinci created forms that appear to be three-dimensional, with subtle gradations of shadows and blurred edges of objects. He used glazes with pigment mixed into the oil. Using extremely thin and tiny strokes, he applied layer upon layer of the glaze. The strokes were so light that many of the individual brushstrokes are imperceptible. He intentionally applied the strokes in an irregular pattern that made the skin look more lifelike.
He also studied human anatomy, and he used that knowledge during the fifteen-year process of creating the Mona Lisa. He studied how the retina focuses on small details and shadows. By applying this knowledge, he was able to create an almost interactive smile in this amazing work of art. Early Renaissance paintings were naturalistic, three-dimensional and lifelike as well. They utilized similar techniques of lighting, perspectives, and facial gestures. However, no one was ever able to replicate the brilliant work of Leonardo da Vinci.
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I do feel like the notoriety of Leonardo da Vinci’s artwork in the Mona Lisa is well deserved. He was extremely talented and intelligent. Throughout his career as an artist, he was able to create beautiful work that still captivates the viewer. He demonstrated and perfected the sfumato technique that he used, like no other. To have the understanding that he did of the human anatomy and be able to display it in such a way that creates an illusion based on different focal points is truly an amazing gift. It took him so long to not even complete this masterpiece that shows how dedicated he was to perfecting it.
Like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, more commonly known as Michelangelo, was also an Italian Renaissance era artist. He is most famous for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It took him approximately four years to complete that. It too was a very complex and beautiful work of art, but there is something to be said about the seemingly simplistic Mona Lisa painting that still attracts people to view first hand the optical illusion of that ambiguous smile.
