HUM 140 Mona Lisa an Iconic Work of Art

Analysis Essay 1: Choose any iconic work of art and explain how the basic elements of design (formalization) for that work reflect the historical context (contextualization) and the cultural values from that artist in that very specific time and place. (i.e.. why is the work made that way and what was its purpose?) Include at least 3 carefully chosen scholarly sources and do not include our textbook as a source. Make sure you include a visual representation of your iconic work of art. 

Answer

Mona Lisa an Iconic Work of Art

Mona Lisa is one of the iconic piece or art by the famous Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. This is a half-length portrait painting that has been descried as the most visited, best known and most periodic piece of art in the world. Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings that holds record for having the highest insurance valuation. Mona Lisais currently the property of the French government. Many theories have been introduced reading the womansitting on the painting as well as the painting itself. These have increased the price and reputation of this particular painting my Leonardo da Vinci.This painting is currently restored in Louvre Museum, France and considered to be most preciousassets that can never be bought or sold. This analysis will be discussing the historical and cultural factors present in the portraitthrough formalization of the painting.

In discussing the formalization of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, the size, color, shapes, texture and direction can be discussed. This paintingis made of oil and wood. Theportraitof a woman is gazing the viewer with a facial expression that has an enigmatic aura.Manyresearchers around the world has been still studying the actual mystery about the famous smile of Mona Lisa. The eyes of the subject are gazing towards something across the room.This ambiguous expression in the face of the subject is the main reason why this painting has become an object of growing fascination for more than centuries. The half figure composition monumentally, subtle modelling forms and the atmospheric illusionism by Da Vinci are supportive of the mystic ambience among Mona Lisa. The painter has used various kinds of lines in this famous painting. The most prominent among these are the powerful curved lines in forming of the hair, face, clothing. In the front corner of the pyramid, Da Vinci had placed the form of her folded hand.

In terms of shape,Da Vinci has used chiefly the organic shapes for the carves as well as the jagged mountains in the background. The most dominating color used are grey and brownwhich are the earthy tones for conveying the natural feeling. More importantly, these colorsneither specifically denote sadness or happiness. The shading tone by the painteris quite detailed in the ways he had painted the face of Mona Lisa (Garrard). The lighting was perfectly usedin to make her face, neck and breast to be more prominent and glow by contrasting the color of the backdrop. The dark and light tone of color has been managed perfectly to detail the creation of her mouth that bears a very specific shading on the corner of her lips to capture the mysterious smile. Perspective plays an important part in the work of Leonardoda Vinci. Like all other paintings, he has created a perfect distance between the background and differentiated the main subject of the portrait. The background in seen as further back from the main figure of the painting.

The main direction of the painting is curved to convey the feeling of tenderness of the woman figure which is in the center of the painting. The texture of the portrait of Mona Lisa is actually cracked with rough surface but what makes the portrait more attractive is its smoothness of the skin of the figure and roughness of the background (Soranzo, Danyeko andZavagno). The painter in this case has used the similar technique used in the image of seated Madonna. This painting was very popular at that time and used for creating any type of seated female figures. Da Vinci used some modification of this particular techniquethrough visual impressionto create a perfect distance between the observers and the seated woman in the painting.This painting appears alive to an unusual extent that the painterhas achieved by his method of avoiding usage of outlines.

The culturalconnotation of this portrait has a long andeventful history, this painting has been theft for several times and some suspect this theft is done by a famous painter. There are several versions of this portrait that are attempted by different painters but each had different qualities to share. During the world war, this painting was saved from destruction and the theorists allow this idea that this theft is somehow related to the process of safekeeping it from the wrath of war.The title of this painting comes from the description of Giorgio Vasari, a Renaissance art historian who has referred the painting to be theportrait of Mona Lisa, the wife of a famous Italian silk merchantFrancesco del Giocondo. Another theory refers to that Mon Lisa is the mother of Leonardo, Catrina. According to the scholars like Sigmund Freud, the mysterious smile of Mona Lisa has emerged perhaps from the unconscious memory of smile of Catrina (Carbon and Hesslinge). According to the historians this paintinghas cultural and religious connotationsas the publication time of this portraitof the early renaissance when the religious paintings were very common. This painting has a larger influence in the culture of the western civilization. The clothing of the figure represents the Florentine fashion of the time that perfectly matches the personality of the subject, physical condition and the social status. After the painting of Mona Lisa was found it started a new fashion trend in all over the western world. The smile is the perfect example of Gioconda which is thevisual representation of the idea of happiness.This captures the techniques of the painter to represent the style of painting of the time.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the aesthetic appreciation of Mona Lisa ahs made it a historical as well as cultural icon. This portraitis the perfect amalgamation of painting techniques of the painter as well as farsightedness of the painter. The depth has been seen in both the subject display, foreground, texture and the background. The symmetrical design of the painting of Mona Lisa has come o be appreciatedas the landmark art work.

References:

Carbon, Claus-Christian, and Vera M. Hesslinger. "Restoring depth to Leonardo's Mona Lisa." American Scientist 103.6 (2015): 404.

Garrard, Mary D. "Leonardo da Vinci: female portraits, female nature." The Expanding Discourse. Routledge, 2018. 58-85.

Soranzo, Alessandro, Olga Danyeko, and Daniele Zavagno. "Mona Lisa's smiles in Leonardo's drawings." Art and Perception 5.5 (2017): 410.