PEGI EYERS
The genius of Leonardo is the mobility of La Gioconda's facial expression, and how each viewer can "read something" into the painting, but we should always acknowledge the real person behind the portrait. Lisa Gherardini was grieving from losing her baby at childbirth, and another as a young infant, and refused to comply with social norms by taking off her black dress (mourning attire) even after many years had passed. She was also a reluctant participant in the excesses of the wealthy class in Florence at the height of the Renaissance, keeping her modest accoutrements and personal needs to a minimum. She was *not* a typical noblewoman, and centered her own individual expressions of grief and suffering above social mores, which was idiosyncratic at the time.
In the portrait as captured by da Vinci, she transcends her sadness for a fleeting moment, and yet the smile does not fully blossom into a true expression of happiness. There have been countless curatorial essays and tracts written on the Monna Lisa, and millions of opinions, but the actual individuality of Gherardini is rarely honored. As modern empowered women today, we have the bandwidth to relate to the *authenticity* of Lisa Gherardini's reality, and not the interpretations, myths or theories.
What is also fascinating is how Leonardo never gave the painting to the Gherardini family, even though it was a paid commission. La Gioconda remained his obsession until his final days, and his truest masterpiece. The process of the Monna Lisa's travels with da Vinci through Europe, and his re-working of the painting for over 17 years, is beautifully outlined in the 2021 best-selling novel The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli.
In the portrait as captured by da Vinci, she transcends her sadness for a fleeting moment, and yet the smile does not fully blossom into a true expression of happiness. There have been countless curatorial essays and tracts written on the Monna Lisa, and millions of opinions, but the actual individuality of Gherardini is rarely honored. As modern empowered women today, we have the bandwidth to relate to the *authenticity* of Lisa Gherardini's reality, and not the interpretations, myths or theories.
What is also fascinating is how Leonardo never gave the painting to the Gherardini family, even though it was a paid commission. La Gioconda remained his obsession until his final days, and his truest masterpiece. The process of the Monna Lisa's travels with da Vinci through Europe, and his re-working of the painting for over 17 years, is beautifully outlined in the 2021 best-selling novel The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli.
The Science Behind Mona Lisa’s Smile: How Leonardo da Vinci Engineered the World’s most Famous Painting
By Walter Isaacson in >The Atlantic<
By Walter Isaacson in >The Atlantic<
| Pegi Eyers is also the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores social justice, nature spirituality, the ancestral arts, and resilience in times of massive change. www.stonecirclepress.com |
