Mona Lisa : The Woman Behind The Smile
© Debbie Legare
Being poor most of her life, she was now richer than she could have ever imagined. Her husband however was always leaving her alone to go on business trips and never asked her to accompany him. Lisa decided to make good of her time when she met an old weird vegetarian painter named Leonardo di Vinci. It is believed that her husband commissioned the portrait to keep Lisa busy while another story says she met Leonardo on her own.
She posed in 1503 for Leonardo at age 24 on a terrace over looking the mountains. She was dressed in Florentine fashion of time which was heavy and burdensome. This began to take its toll on the model. Di Vinci hired muses, jesters and musicians to keep her mood up and jolly while he painted. Being painted with oil on pinewood was a hard tedious task. It took 4 years to paint and even longer to try to get the mouth to look right. The painting was 77 x 53 cm. large. He used a technique he created called 'Sfumato' which is the gradual dissolving of light and shade. This created the mysterious effect that makes the face look like it is following you at all times.The portrait is now smaller since two columns were cut off. This accounts for the terrace not being seen.
In 1507, Lisa's husband asked her to finally accompany him on a trip Calabria. She left as soon as she was packed, leaving her painting unfinished. Leonardo waited years before he finally gave up. Leonardo took the painting to France in 1516 and sold it to the French's King Francis 1 for $105,000 and was placed in his castle in Amboise. Leonardo died 3 years after selling his prized possession. The painting however over the years made its way to Fontainbleau, Paris, Versailles then to the private collection of Ludwig XIV. After the revolution, she was hung in the Louvre. Napoleon took his turn at owning the portrait and had it hanging in his bedroom. Of course, when he was banished from Naples, it then returned to the Louvre again. Her face was beginning to get a green cast from the varnish that was used in the painting process.
