Mona Lisa Smiles

Fig. 1, Mona Lisa http://www.shawnsmallstories.com/wp-content/uploads/Mona-Lisa-Framed.jpg

Fig. 1, Mona Lisa
http://www.shawnsmallstories.com/wp-content/uploads/Mona-Lisa-Framed.jpg

Mona Lisa (Fig. 1), the most famous painting of the Renaissance period. “It was painted by the Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous Italian artist, between 1504 and 1519, and is a half body commission for a woman named Lisa Gherardini.”(Totally History) This icon of the art history has amazed thousands people around the world. But how is it related to Graphic Design?

Mona Lisa has very complicated structure if we look at the composition of the painting. It is structured geometrically and follows some of the rules. Leonardo Da Vinci applied the rule of Archimedes spiral (Fig. 2) in order to build up the composition of the body.

It is amazing, how an artist can structure his artwork using maths. If so, are there any other secrets hidden in this painting? Is there worlds famous “Da Vinci Code”?

One of the hidden meanings I found fascinating was that the painting is split in four nature forces: earth, fire, water and air (Fig.3). In the order mentioned above you can follow the painting seeing all four. I have seen this painting hundreds of times, but never thought it is so full secrets, and this really inspires me to do my designs with a twist of mystery in them.

Another mystery of the painting is Mona Lisa’s smile. In combination with unforgettable eyes it has inspired thousands of artists, writers and musicians. I would call it an honest smile, in most cases people do this kind of smile for themselves, very deep and true, without overdoing it. Probably that’s why people fell in love in it so much.

Competing love to the painting, there have been several situations when vandals tried to destroy the painting. “The first occurrence of vandalism was in 1956 when somebody threw acid at the bottom half, severely damaging the timeless masterpiece. That same year, another vandal threw a rock at the work, removing a chip of paint from near her elbow. It was later painted over. Afterwards, the piece was put under bulletproof glass as a means of protection has kept the painting from further attempts at vandalism and destruction.” (Totally History [WWW])

Mona Lisa has been reproduced and parodied by many famous artists such as Andy Warhol (Fig. 5), Philippe Halsman, Fernand Leger and others.

Fig. 6, Mona Lisa Shirt
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51iUGxLv-eL.jpg

Nowadays, Mona Lisa’s identity has become a brand. Designers use their reproductions of Mona Lisa in order to produce work to be put on t-shirts (Fig. 6), posters, canvases and even promotional materials. At some point it was very popular and everybody used imagery related to this painting.

To conclude, Mona Lisa is inerasable spot in the art history. Being a hot topic of discussions, it has gained an amazing popularity around the world. If you still haven’t seen it in real its worth of visiting Louvre in Paris. Personally I have not been there yet, but my dreams might get true soon. Can’t wait!

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References:

The Guardian [WWW] Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/oct/04/mona-lisa-leonardo-painting  [Accessed 15/11/13]

Live Science [WWW] Available from: http://www.livescience.com/4648-25-secrets-mona-lisa-revealed.html [Accessed 14/11/13]

Smart History [WWW] Available from: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/leonardo-mona-lisa.html [Accessed 15/11/13]

Totally History [WWW] Available from: http://totallyhistory.com/mona-lisa/ [Accessed 16/11/13]

Telegraph [WWW] Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8249386/Mona-Lisa-landscape-location-mystery-solved.html [Accessed 15/11/13]

McMullen, R. (1976) Mona Lisa: The Picture & The Myth. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston

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