Mona Lisa is a portrait of a young woman, one of the most famous works of art in the world, which refers to the Renaissance and is exhibited in the Louvre (Paris, France). Full name of the painting is the Portrait of Madonna Lisa del Gioconda. The author of Mona Lisa is an Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci who painted it around 1503.
The examination of work shows how on limited space, the artist can represent detailed portrait, including context and peculiarities to enrich the masterpiece. The study on Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece will help in advancing portraying techniques, which are essential to create alive and realistic models on both canvas and 3D modeling.
The picture is only 30 inches tall, and Mona Lisa is depicted sitting on a low stool; her body is turned to the left, the right-hand rests on her left forearm. The woman faces the viewer at an angle, while the brown eyes look directly at the viewer. Such a technique shows how artists can create the portrait by making it more alive and appealing to the audience (“Lisa del Giocondo,” 2020). In this instance, da Vinci’s style can be used to create emotional ties between the artist, the model, and the viewer.
Another notorious takeaway from this masterpiece is the composition of background on the painting. In the background, a fantastic landscape with hills and mountains is represented in warm and soft tones over the gradually lightened sky. The current picture frame closes two columns along the edges of the scene. All the details are beautiful in this canvas, but the attention is preserved on a depicted person indicating the importance of unified focus through the image.
Further, the masterpiece reveals several nuances and peculiarities if the model is examined through the concepts and theories of art. When looking at Gioconda, the composition seems relatively standard and straightforward. But for the contemporaries of a masterpiece, the construction of the image was merely revolutionary. It broke all the rules and subsequently established new trends in painting that have been relevant for centuries (Broomhall & Green, 2019). One of the strongest compositional elements of Mona Lisa’s portrait is the pyramidal composition. It can be noted that the main object that extends in the hands, whereas the hands form the front corner. This technique shows how to make the whole structure to lead the viewer’s attention from model’s body to essential details and parts of the composition.
It seems that the woman in the portrait sits very naturally, entirely at ease. However, at the time of painting, most pictures were very rigid, harsh, often drawing a person in profile. Mona Lisa’s portrait is represented from the soft, casual pose. She is calm, leaning slightly on her chair with her arms crossed. It is also unusual for Leonardo da Vinci to go against the rules when framing this picture (Broomhall & Green, 2019).
He chose a length of three quarters rather than one full. Thus, the image is filled with one person, and almost nothing distracts from the main model revealing the importance to keep the audience concentrated on painting’s main idea. Another feature of Gioconda’s pose is that Leonardo placed her eyes at the level of the viewer’s gaze. It gives a sense of closeness to the image as if the viewer was looking straight in her eyes, not from top to bottom or vice versa.
Nonetheless, the philosophy has influenced me the most due to the significant impact of this discipline on artists and architects. I believe that the philosophical questions and dilemmas always have feedback in paintings due to the artists’ intention represent his or her view on life, society, nature, and destiny. In this instance, I can admit that even da Vinci incorporated philosophy and theology in his works to give in-depth and in-breadth sense and motives for his models.
The course delivers an enormous amount of useful information about composition and design. Nonetheless, the most vital aspect for further career development is the ability to work with the lighting. Da Vinci used the light to draw the viewer’s attention to certain parts of the painting – faces, and hands. He balanced the image, beautifully positioning of the illuminated hands and face. Leonardo da Vinci also used shade to add depth and volume to different image planes, including the area around Mona Lisa’s neck and the fold of the dress on her arm.
The composition teaches viewers to think about light around the composition’s models. The use of light to draw attention is a vital part of the image. The analysis of Mona Lisa indicates how to apply shadows to create an in-depth 3D model.
References
Broomhall, S., & Green, C. (2019). What’s so special about the Mona Lisa? The Conversation. Web.
Lisa del Giocondo. History’s Women. (2020). Web.