I want to begin my story with the country placed on the beach of the Adriatic Sea. It’s called Italy. It’s undeniable that Italy is famous on all over the world by Naples pizza, Ferrara macaroni and Rome ice cream. Moreover everybody knows that Italian is one of the most pleasant to the ear language. But the most remarkable is the other language. It’s a language of art. Exactly Italy is a motherland of Caravaggio, Botticello, Michelangelo, Raphael and of course the greatest person of all ages. He passed ahead of his time. His name is Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo was in advance of many other painters. His works continue to amaze us after 500 years passed. Telling about da Vinci it would be unforgivably not to say about his the greatest piece of painting. At the end of 19th century Francois Anatole Gruyer said, “It passed about 4 centuries as people go out of their minds because of watching Mona Lisa and talking about her”. So what is so special in this exquisite piece of painting?
The full name of the canvas is “The Portrait of the Milady Lise del Giocondo”. Her enchanting smile is famous even among the kids. But the smile is not the only secret of the painting.
Firstly, scientists and art historians don’t know who exactly is painted on this picture. Many people agree that there is Lisa Gerardini, the third wife of Florentine merchant Francisco del Giocondo. Other do not agree and try to prove that the Lioness of Rimini Katarina Sforza was a sitter of Leonardo da Vinci. There are numerous of different hypotheses.
Face of Giaconda has some more features. It’s without brows and eyelashes. It’s not an invention of painter it’s a trait of quattrocento. Quattrocento is an epoch if an Italian art in the 15th century.
What about a canvas itself. Woman in the dark clothes is depicted on the half-length. She is sitting on the balcony in the armchair folded his hands. We can see a light black veil on her face. Probably it’s a symbol of widowhood. This is a great plus to the theory of Katarina Sforza as a sitter. A bit curly dark hair is lying on the shoulders.
All these words are about forestage. And now a few words about backstage. It makes Mona Lisa more real because you see her figure so close and the landscape of mountains is so far. Hazy distance is empty. There is an early copy of “La Gioconda” where she is represented on the dark backstage. Because of it picture isn’t so bright, a lot of little but noticeable moments are lost. After reproduction of this copy the landscape was found under the black layer. At a pop painting became livelier. Feeling of the picture changed in one moment.
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