WHO IS THE MOST FAMOUS CHARACTER IN ART?
The Painting
The Mona Lisa or known in Italian as La Gioconda is a painting that portrays a woman from the waist up. It was painted by the Italian artist, inventor, architect, mathematician, writer and cartographer Leonardo Da Vinci. This particular work of art has been characterized as the best known, the most written about, the most visited, the most sung about and the most parodied single piece of art in the world. The lady in the painting was first thought to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco Del Giocondo. It was presumably painted between 1503 and 1506 on a white poplar panel using oil paint.
The painting was obtained by the French King Francis I and it has been the property of France ever since. Today it is displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The amazing thing about this portrait is the fact that it contains a number of innovative elements such as the specific modeling form, the illusionism created by the atmosphere of the painting and the facial expression of the character in the painting which is described as ambiguous and enigmatic. There have been speculations that the person in the painting is none other than Da Vinci himself, and the advocates of this theory compared one of his auto portraits to the painting, claiming that it is obvious that the artist playfully painted himself as a woman.
The identity of the Mona Lisa
Today, an art historian, Carla Glori, claims that he is able to provide an answer to the question of identity of the person portrayed in Da Vinci`s painting. Glori collaborated on this project with Hugh Cameron, and after a detailed analysis they concluded that the person from Da Vinci`s painting is Bianca Giovanna Sforza. After the detailed inspection of the painting, they discovered:
– The letters ‘S’ and ‘G’ in the eyes of the Mona Lisa, the initials of Bianca`s full name.
-The style of her dress is associated with the one from the Sforza Court which was popular at the same time Da Vinci painted Mona Lisa.
Other evidence that point to Bianca Sforza being the lady in the painting is hidden in the background of the painting. Glori managed to identify the bridge from the painting and its location is on the river Trebbia in Bobbio, a place close to the town of Piacenza. The historical fact is that Sforza ruled Bobbio at that time.
One of the known portraits of Bianca Sforza.
The historical fact is that Sforza ruled Bobbio at that time. These combined facts strongly indicate that the identity of the lady from the painting is no other than the daughter of Ludovico il Moro, Bianca. The reason for Da Vinci`s trip to Bobbio could be the amazing library that it housed. During this visit he could have had an inspirational moment that yielded in one of the best known works of art in the history of mankind.
