Female Beauty

The mysterious half-smile that has intrigued viewers of the Mona Lisa for centuries isn’t really that difficult to interpret, scientists unveiled some of the secrets behind Western art’s most enigmatic smile. Researchers studying 3D images of the “Mona Lisa” say she was probably either pregnant or had just given birth when she sat for Leonardo da Vinci‘s 16th-century masterpiece. The clue was something she wore. The 3D scan of the Mona Lisa has not only helped to further our understanding of Leonardo’s sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling, but will also help to address the conservation and deterioration concerns we have. The 500-year-old Leonardo da Vinci’s painting perhaps the world’s most famous painting, is considered a milestone in the art of portraiture and an icon of European culture.

Tradition holds that the “Mona Lisa” is a painting of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo, and that Leonardo started painting it in 1503. In France, the painting, on display at the Louvre Museum, is referred to as La Joconde – the French version of her married name. The name “Mona Lisa” is the equivalent of “Madam Lisa.”  The veil “would confirm art historians’hypothesis that Giocondo asked for a painting of his wife to celebrate the birth of his second son,” said Michel Menu, chief of the research department at the French Museums’ Center for Research and Restoration. 

The results of this study are published in Au coeur de la Joconde in French by Les ditions Gallimard and Mona Lisa: Inside the Painting published in English by Harry N. Abrams Inc. The German edition, which was released in May 2006, is titled Mona Lisa: Das große Buch zum berühmtesten Gemälde der Welt published by Schirmer/Mosel. Some of the conclusions include:

• The wood panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted is sensitive to temperature and climate variations. However, if its current storage conditions are maintained, there is no risk of degradation.
• The 12 cm split on the top half of the painting, which was probably due to the removal of the original frame and repaired between the middle of the XVIII and beginning of the XIX century, appears to be stable and has not worsened over time.
• The very fine craquelure pattern recorded by the laser scanner seems to corroborate other inspection techniques and conclusions that support the principle of minimum intervention on the painting as recommended by the experts. 

The council had hoped to discover more details about Leonardo’s “sfumato” technique of subtly blending one tone into another, which the artist used to create a hazy effect. But scientist John Taylor said the team had been frustrated by the lack of brush stroke detail on the painting. “It’s extremely thinly painted and extremely flat, and yet the details of the curls of hair, for example are extremely distinct. So the technique is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Leonardo was in a league of his own,” he said.

Bruno Mottin of the French Museums’ Center for Research and Restoration said that on very close examination of the painting it became clear that the Mona Lisa’s dress was covered in a thin transparent gauze veil. “This type of gauze dress was typical of the kind worn in early 16th century Italy by women who were pregnant or who had just given birth. This is something that had never been seen up to now because the painting was always judged to be dark and difficult to examine,” he told a news conference. Mottin also said that, contrary to popular belief, the subject had not let her hair hang freely but in fact wore a bonnet from which only a few curls managed to escape.
“People always wrote that the Mona Lisa had allowed her hair to hang freely over her shoulders. This greatly surprised historians because letting your hair hang freely during the Renaissance was typical of young girls and women of poor virtue,” he said. 

The data show warping in the poplar panel Leonardo used as his canvas, but the painting is in relatively good shape. “We didn’t see any sign of paint lifting,” Taylor said. “So for a 500-year-old painting it’s very good news. And if they continue to keep it the way they have in an environment-controlled chamber, it could remain like that for a very long time.”

Canadian scientist Marc Rioux said the data would be studied for many years to come, providing more insights into Leonardo’s painting. “We’ve barely scratched the surface of the data available. Scientists now have access to a virtual copy. I would say this is the most important achievement of the project. There will be a lot more information about that painting just because there are many more scientists looking at the data.” Rioux added, “what is amazing and paradoxical about that painting is that people think it’s been analyzed but it’s exactly the opposite. This is the most inaccessible painting in the world. Why? Because it’s 99.9 per cent of the time in the Louvre for the public to view. The last time it was up for examination was 1952.”

While the world delves into the depths of Da Vinci’s brushstrokes, a group of artists has decided to celebrate 500 years of the painting by creating their own interpretations of the lovely lady.
An exhibition called Hello Mona Lisa will be presented in the Capital from October 3-14. With painters from India, Pakistan, Nepal, USA and Italy are showcasing their works, this promises to be an extraordinary display of art works.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 5th, 2006 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Beauty, Lifestyle, Personality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.