The Monalisa smile
Monalisa-the lady with the mystic smile
The artist is the quintessential example of the Renaissance man. He was a mathematical genius,an inventor and visual artist. His painting, Monalisa, was a ground breaking artwork in its time and still mesmerizes today, albeit for different reasons.
Technical wizardry
Leonardo Davinci coined the term sfumato, a term meaning, without edges. He then employed this idea to his work where the "edge" is made by the tones and shades hazily blending into each other. What this does in a painting like the one in discussion, is give the work an air of mystery, a transcendent quality. This combined with the next point I will discuss, make the La Joconde, as it is also known, a rather special painting.
The Mystic smile
When I finally got my 10 minutes to stand in front of this painting in the Louvre, I was very disappointed at first. Chiefly because she is behind bullet proof glass, which is boxed and arope stops you from about a metre away. Taking what I could, I gave the paintng a chance and examined her smile. True to the tales,she does have a mystic smile. As you watch her, you wonder if she is happy or sad,smiling or about to slowly fade into sadness. Leonardo managed to strike a balance between a happy and sad face. This gives the painting an endearing appearance where one may choose to smile with her or feel her pain.
What so special about the Monalisa?
Not only was it a ground breaking painting of its time, it was and still is a very beautiful painting. Technically and aesthetically. Combining that with the afore mentioned smile,it is definitely a special painting.