mona lisa essay titles

66 Mona Lisa Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best mona lisa topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 simple & easy mona lisa essay titles, 👍 good essay topics on mona lisa.

• “Mona Lisa Smile” Movie Analysis One of the examples is when Katherine was getting to know the students and met Joan who was one of the smartest in the class.
• Mona Lisa’s Elements and Principles of Art The image involves a half-body portrait of a woman, and the enigmatic smile of the lady reflects the artist’s idea of the connection between nature and humanity. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Mona Lisa and the Last Supper Paintings The naming of Mona Lisa and the Last Supper paintings is based on the themes represented in the paintings and situations at the time.
• The Ambiguity of Mona Lisa Painting This paper will provide a rhetoric analysis of the Mona Lisa painting, because it has rendered its audience into a redundant situation where the individual who admires this painting always ends up in his or […]
• “Mona Lisa Smile” by Mike Newell The President warns Katherine and orders her to follow the syllabus failure to which she would lose her job. Also, she agrees with her because she does not like the fact that she is among […]
• Mona Lisa Smile The movie wanted to show the way women believed in their lives in the 1950s through a series of video footage available in the movie’s DVD showing women in the fifties, statistics comparing women taking […]
• Trend on the Parody of “The Mona Lisa” by DaVinci It illustrates the modern trend on selfies, the self-made photos of the person holding the camera, among young ladies, and the importance of social media like Instagram in the lives of the people who live […]
• The Mona Lisa Painting’s History and Influence on Art The Mona Lisa picture above is written with the use of paint and pigments using the brush and sponges and it is an original copy of the world’s greatest work.
• Arts Analysis: Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and The Creation This paper will focus on analyzing the different styles of painting in the paintings Mona Lisa and The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci and The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti.
• Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring Both “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and the “Mona Lisa” are considered masterpieces of their respective periods; both painters were able to capture their subjects in a way that is both realistic and evocative.
• Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as a Source of Inspiration In both Mona Lisa and Instafamous, Lisa del Gioconda is at the center of the composition. However, in Mona Lisa, it is Da Vinci’s gaze that determines how she is depicted and perceived, while in […]
• Analysis of a Postcard Reproduction of Leonard Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa by Duchamp Taking into account Greenberg’s model and aesthetic criteria for evaluating the works of art, Marcel Duchamp’s reproduction of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa can be defined as a clear representation of kitsch.
• “The Mona Lisa” and “Lavender Mist” Paintings Comparison The Mona Lisa painting stands out from other paintings of the 1500 era because of the technique, and the medium used to create the masterpiece.
• Louvre Museum: Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” The composition is based upon the pyramid of the woman’s body, giving the painting a great deal of stability, as well as the organic curvilinear forms of the feminine. The Louvre is so full of […]
• Art History – Mona Lisa The woman’s smile, often described as enigmatic, is the most intriguing aspect of the painting and it is also the subject of much speculation. The smile of the seated woman is the hallmark of this […]
• Art Analysis: “Mona Lisa” and “The Creation of the Heavens” The work depicts a sense of harmony, and the smile of the woman shows happiness. The moon was a symbol of the Virgin Mary’s influence on the church, and the sun had an association with […]
• Stories Behind the Famous Mona Lisa Portrait
• Unveiling the Secretive Personality Behind Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
• Mona Lisa and the Renaissance Humanistic School of Thought
• The Mona Lisa Identification: Evidence From a Computer Analysis
• The Artistic Technique of Mona Lisa: Sfumato and Chiaroscuro
• Comparing the Mona Lisa and Merode Altarpiece
• Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe Paintings
• The Renaissance Movement: The Last Supper and Mona Lisa
• The History of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Famous Painting: The Mona Lisa
• The Role of Mona Lisa in Popular Culture Like Music, Film, and Television
• Feminist Readings and Interpretations of Mona Lisa
• The Variations and Copies of Mona Lisa: Reproductions and Imitations
• The Feminine Ideal in Mona Lisa: Beauty Standards and Body Politics
• The Scientific Analysis of Mona Lisa: X-Rays, Spectroscopy, and Imaging
• Leonardo’s Mona Lisa vs. Michelangelo’s David
• The Digital Reproductions of Mona Lisa: Virtual Reality and 3D Imaging
• An Objective and Subjective Analysis of the Beauty of Mona Lisa
• Renaissance Period Embodiment of Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci
• The Anatomy of Facial Expressions and Physiognomy of Mona Lisa
• Art, Human Experience, and the Mona Lisa Painting
• The Mona Lisa: A Recreated Oil Painting Ideology
• Comparing and Contrasting the Renaissance Artworks Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci and Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
• Artistic Critique and Historical Perspectives of the Mona Lisa Painting by Leonardo Da Vinci
• Comparing the Girl With a Pearl Earring and Mona Lisa
• An Overview of the History and Popularity of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Painting Mona Lisa
• Compare & Contrast: Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Pablo Picasso’s Seated Woman
• Comparison of Mona Lisa by Andy Warhol and Leonardo Da Vinci
• A Philosophical and Metaphysical Perspective of the Enigma of Mona Lisa
• History and Significance of the Mona Lisa Arts
• Mona Lisa Smile According to Functionalist Approach
• The Technical Aspects of Mona Lisa: Pigments, Composition, and Conservation
• The Secret of Mona Lisa: Hidden Messages and Meanings
• Aesthetic and Cultural Perspectives on the Influence of Mona Lisa on Art History
• The History of the Louvre Museum and the Mona Lisa Gallery
• Vitruvian Man and Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci
• The Mona Lisa: La Gioconda or la Joconde
• The Impact of Mona Lisa on Fashion and Beauty
• Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci: Analysis and Interpretation
• The Mystical and Spiritual Connotations of Mona Lisa
• The Symbolism of Mona Lisa: Cultural Codes and Iconography
• The Controversies Surrounding Mona Lisa: Authentication and Provenance
• The Mona Lisa: The Sophistication of a World Icon
• The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper: Popular Works of Art by the Leonardo Da Vinci
• The Virtual Characteristics of the Mona Lisa Painting by Leonardo Da Vinci
• The Emotional Response to Mona Lisa: Affective and Cognitive Reactions
• Historical Changes and Controversies About the Restorations and Alterations of Mona Lisa
• The Role of Mona Lisa in the Renaissance Art: Innovations and Continuities
• A Visual Analysis of the Colors and Textures of Mona Lisa
• The Poetic Interpretations of Mona Lisa: Imagery and Metaphor
• Leonardo Da Vinci’s the Last Supper and Mona Lisa
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "66 Mona Lisa Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/mona-lisa-essay-topics/.

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Simple & Easy Mona Lisa Essay Titles

• A Practical Examination of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
• The Renaissance Era Produced the Famous Mona Lisa
• Artistic Analysis and Historical Perspectives on Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa Painting
• The Social Structure in Mona Lisa’s Smile
• An Investigation, Comparison, and Analysis of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa Painting
• The Mona Lisa’s Formal Analysis
• Comparison of Andy Warhol’s Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
• The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa on the Renaissance Movement
• The Film Mona Lisa’s Smile Sociological Perspective
• The Mona Lisa and the Humanistic Renaissance School of Thought
• Compare and Contrast the Seated Woman by Pablo Picasso and the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.
• Katharine Watson Plays a Helpful Role in Mike Newell’s Film Mona Lisa Smile
• The Feminist Mona Lisa’s Conflict Theory
• Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in the Renaissance Period
• An Analysis of the Mona Lisa Painting, Art, and the Human Experience

Good Essay Topics on Mona Lisa

• The Viewpoint of the Mona Lisa as a Recreated Oil Painting
• Realities about the Legendary Mona Lisa Painting
• Marilyn Monroe Paintings by Warhol and the Mona Lisa by Da Vinci
• Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa Reveals the Hidden Persona
• The Mona Lisa by Leonardo and David by Michelangelo
• The Background of the Mona Lisa , a Legendary Painting by Leonardo da Vinci
• The Mona Lisa’s Technique
• A World Icon with Sophistication Featuring the Mona Lisa
• An Examination of Leonardo da Vinci’s Painting Mona Lisa’s History and Popularity
• Propaganda and Women’s Representation in the Film Mona Lisa’s Smile
• Analysis and Interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
• The Comparison of the Girl with a Pearl Earring and the Mona Lisa
• The Overview of Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci’s the Last Supper
• The Specifics of the Mona Lisa Arts and Its Significance and History
• Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa Painting’s Virtual Characteristics
• The Renaissance Artworks in Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo and Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci’ Comparison and Contrast

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Leonardo da vinci (1452–1519).

A Bear Walking

• Leonardo da Vinci

The Head of a Woman in Profile Facing Left

Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio

The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right

Allegory on the Fidelity of the Lizard (recto); Design for a Stage Setting (verso)

The Head of a Grotesque Man in Profile Facing Right

After Leonardo da Vinci

Head of a Man in Profile Facing to the Left

Compositional Sketches for the Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, with and without the Infant St. John the Baptist; Diagram of a Perspectival Projection (recto); Slight Doodles (verso)

Studies for Hercules Holding a Club Seen in Frontal View, Male Nude Unsheathing a Sword, and the Movements of Water (Recto); Study for Hercules Holding a Club Seen in Rear View (Verso)

Carmen Bambach Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2002

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is one of the most intriguing personalities in the history of Western art. Trained in Florence as a painter and sculptor in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio (1435–1488), Leonardo is also celebrated for his scientific contributions. His curiosity and insatiable hunger for knowledge never left him. He was constantly observing, experimenting, and inventing, and drawing was, for him, a tool for recording his investigation of nature. Although completed works by Leonardo are few, he left a large body of drawings (almost 2,500) that record his ideas, most still gathered into notebooks. He was principally active in Florence (1472–ca. 1482, 1500–1508) and Milan (ca. 1482–99, 1508–13), but spent the last years of his life in Rome (1513–16) and France (1516/17–1519), where he died. His genius as an artist and inventor continues to inspire artists and scientists alike centuries after his death.

Drawings Outside of Italy, Leonardo’s work can be studied most readily in drawings. He recorded his constant flow of ideas for paintings on paper. In his Studies for the Nativity ( 17.142.1 ), he studied different poses and gestures of the mother and her infant , probably in preparation for the main panel in his famous altarpiece known as the Virgin of the Rocks (Musée du Louvre, Paris). Similarly, in a sheet of designs for a stage setting ( 17.142.2 ), prepared for a staging of a masque (or musical comedy) in Milan in 1496, he made notes on the actors’ positions on stage alongside his sketches, translating images and ideas from his imagination onto paper. Leonardo also drew what he observed from the world around him, including human anatomy , animal and plant life, the motion of water, and the flight of birds. He also investigated the mechanisms of machines used in his day, inventing many devices like a modern-day engineer. His drawing techniques range from rather rapid pen sketches, in The   Head of a Man in Profile Facing to The Left ( 10.45.1) , to carefully finished drawings in red and black chalks, as in The   Head of the Virgin ( 51.90 ). These works also demonstrate his fascination with physiognomy, and contrasts between youth and old age, beauty and ugliness.

The Last Supper (ca. 1492/94–1498) Leonardo’s Last Supper , on the end wall of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, is one of the most renowned paintings of the High Renaissance. Recently restored, The Last Supper had already begun to flake during the artist’s lifetime due to his failed attempt to paint on the walls in layers (not unlike the technique of tempera on panel), rather than in a true fresco technique . Even in its current state, it is a masterpiece of dramatic narrative and subtle pictorial illusionism.

Leonardo chose to capture the moment just after Christ tells his apostles that one of them will betray him, and at the institution of the Eucharist. The effect of his statement causes a visible response, in the form of a wave of emotion among the apostles. These reactions are quite specific to each apostle, expressing what Leonardo called the “motions of the mind.” Despite the dramatic reaction of the apostles, Leonardo imposes a sense of order on the scene. Christ’s head is at the center of the composition, framed by a halo-like architectural opening. His head is also the vanishing point toward which all lines of the perspectival projection of the architectural setting converge. The apostles are arranged around him in four groups of three united by their posture and gesture. Judas, who was traditionally placed on the opposite side of the table, is here set apart from the other apostles by his shadowed face.

Mona Lisa (ca. 1503–6 and later) Leonardo may also be credited with the most famous portrait of all time, that of Lisa, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and known as the Mona Lisa (Musée du Louvre, Paris). An aura of mystery surrounds this painting, which is veiled in a soft light, creating an atmosphere of enchantment. There are no hard lines or contours here (a technique of painting known as sfumato— fumo in Italian means “smoke”), only seamless transitions between light and dark. Perhaps the most striking feature of the painting is the sitter’s ambiguous half smile. She looks directly at the viewer, but her arms, torso, and head each twist subtly in a different direction, conveying an arrested sense of movement. Leonardo explores the possibilities of oil paint in the soft folds of the drapery, texture of skin, and contrasting light and dark (chiaroscuro). The deeply receding background, with its winding rivers and rock formations, is an example of Leonardo’s personal view of the natural world: one in which everything is liquid, in flux, and filled with movement and energy.

Bambach, Carmen. “Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm (October 2002)

Further Reading

Bambach, Carmen C., ed. Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman . Exhibition catalogue.. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.

Additional Essays by Carmen Bambach

• Bambach, Carmen. “ Anatomy in the Renaissance .” (October 2002)
• Bambach, Carmen. “ Renaissance Drawings: Material and Function .” (October 2002)

Related Essays

• Anatomy in the Renaissance
• Architecture in Renaissance Italy
• Portraiture in Renaissance and Baroque Europe
• The Rediscovery of Classical Antiquity
• Renaissance Drawings: Material and Function
• Antonello da Messina (ca. 1430–1479)
• Arms and Armor in Renaissance Europe
• The Crucifixion and Passion of Christ in Italian Painting
• Drawing in the Middle Ages
• Dutch and Flemish Artists in Rome, 1500–1600
• Early Netherlandish Painting
• Filippino Lippi (ca. 1457–1504)
• Northern Italian Renaissance Painting
• The Papacy and the Vatican Palace
• Patronage at the Later Valois Courts (1461–1589)
• Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641): Paintings
• Rembrandt (1606–1669): Paintings
• Sixteenth-Century Painting in Emilia-Romagna
• Sixteenth-Century Painting in Lombardy
• Sixteenth-Century Painting in Venice and the Veneto
• Unfinished Works in European Art, ca. 1500–1900
• Venetian Color and Florentine Design

List of Rulers

• List of Rulers of Europe
• Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.
• Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• France, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• 15th Century A.D.
• Biblical Scene
• Central Italy
• High Renaissance
• The Last Supper
• Madonna and Child
• New Testament
• Religious Art
• Renaissance Art
• Scientific Instrument
• Virgin Mary
• Wall Painting

Artist or Maker

• Boltraffio, Giovanni Antonio
• Parmigianino

Leonardo, Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa), c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Portraits were once rare

We live in a culture that is so saturated with images, it may be difficult to imagine a time when only the wealthiest people had their likeness captured. The wealthy merchants of renaissance Florence could commission a portrait, but even they would likely only have a single portrait painted during their lifetime. A portrait was about more than likeness, it spoke to status and position. In addition, portraits generally took a long time to paint, and the subject would commonly have to sit for hours or days, while the artist captured their likeness.

View of crowd surrounding Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris; photo: -JvL- , CC BY 2.0)

The most recognized painting in the world

The Mona Lisa was originally this type of portrait, but over time its meaning has shifted and it has become an icon of the Renaissance—perhaps the most recognized painting in the world. The Mona Lisa is a likely a portrait of the wife of a Florentine merchant. For some reason however, the portrait was never delivered to its patron, and Leonardo kept it with him when he went to work for Francis I , the King of France.

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

The Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile has inspired many writers, singers, and painters. Here’s a passage about the Mona Lisa , written by the Victorian-era (19th-century) writer Walter Pater:

We all know the face and hands of the figure, set in its marble chair, in that circle of fantastic rocks, as in some faint light under sea. Perhaps of all ancient pictures time has chilled it least. The presence that thus rose so strangely beside the waters, is expressive of what in the ways of a thousand years men had come to desire. Hers is the head upon which all “the ends of the world are come,” and the eyelids are a little weary. It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh, the deposit, little cell by cell, of strange thoughts and fantastic reveries and exquisite passions. Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity, and how would they be troubled by this beauty, into which the soul with all its maladies has passed!

Left: Piero della Francesca, Portrait of Battista Sforza , c. 1465–66, tempera on panel (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence); right: Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Piero della Francesca’s Portrait of Battista Sforza  is typical of portraits during the Early Renaissance (before Leonardo ); figures were often painted in strict profile, and cut off at the bust. Often the figure was posed in front of a birds-eye view of a landscape.

A new formula

Hans Memling, Portrait of a Young Man at Prayer , c. 1485–94, oil on oak panel ( Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza , Madrid)

With Leonardo’s portrait, the face is nearly frontal, the shoulders are turned three-quarters toward the viewer, and the hands are included in the image.

Leonardo uses his characteristic sfumato —a smokey haziness—to soften outlines and create an atmospheric effect around the figure. When a figure is in profile, we have no real sense of who she is, and there is no sense of engagement. With the face turned toward us, however, we get a sense of the personality of the sitter.

Northern Renaissance artists such as Hans Memling (see the Portrait of a Young Man at Prayer ) had already created portraits of figures in positions similar to the Mona Lisa . Memling had even located them in believable spaces. Leonardo combined these Northern innovations with Italian painting’s understanding of the three dimensionality of the body and the perspectival treatment of the surrounding space.

Left: Unknown, Mona Lisa , c. 1503–05, oil on panel (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid); right: Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (known as the Mona Lisa) , c. 1503–19, oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

A recent discovery

An important copy of the Mona Lisa was recently discovered in the collection of the Prado in Madrid. The background had been painted over, but when the painting was cleaned, scientific analysis revealed that the copy was likely painted by another artist who sat beside Leonardo and copied his work, brush-stroke by brush-stroke. The copy gives us an idea of what the Mona Lisa might look like if layers of yellowed varnish were removed.

Bibliography

Read a Reframing Art History chapter that discusses Leonardo da Vinci—” Art in Sovereign States of the Italian Renaissance, c. 1400–1600 .”

Theresa Flanigan, “Mona Lisa’s Smile: Interpreting Emotion in Renaissance Female Portraits,” Studies in Iconography , vol. 40 (2019), pp. 183–230.

This painting at the Louvre .

Louvre Feature: A Closer Look at the Mona Lisa .

Not Just Another Fake Mona Lisa from The New York Times Interactive.

Mona Lisa at Universal Leonardo.

Important fundamentals

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What’s so special about the Mona Lisa?

Professor of History, The University of Western Australia

Professor, The University of Melbourne

Disclosure statement

Susan Broomhall receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Charles Green does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Every day, thousands of people from around the world crowd into a stark, beige room at Paris’s Louvre Museum to view its single mounted artwork, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

To do so, they walk straight past countless masterpieces of the European Renaissance. So why does the Mona Lisa seem so special?

The mystery of her identity

The story told by one of Leonardo’s first biographers, Giorgio Vasari, is that this oil portrait depicts Lisa Gherardini, second wife of a wealthy silk and wool merchant Francesco del Giocondo (hence the name by which it is known in Italian: La Gioconda).

Leonardo likely commenced the work while in Florence in the early 1500s, perhaps when he was hoping to receive the commission to take on a massive wall painting of The Battle of Anghiari .

Accepting a portrait commission from one of the city’s most influential, politically-engaged citizens might well have helped his chances. A recently discovered marginal note by Agostino Vespucci, one-time assistant to the diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, records that Leonardo was working on a painting of “Lisa del Giocondo” in 1503.

The Italian painter Raphael, a great admirer of Leonardo, leaves us a sketch from around 1505-6 of what seems to be this work . When Leonardo later moved to France in 1516, he took this still unfinished work with him.

However, art scholars have increasingly voiced doubts about whether the image in the Louvre can indeed be Vasari’s Lisa, for the style and techniques of the painting match far better Leonardo’s later work from 1510 onwards.

Additionally, a visitor to Leonardo’s house in 1517 recorded seeing there a portrait of “a certain Florentine woman, done from life,” made “at the instance of the late magnificent Giuliano de Medici.” Medici was Leonardo’s patron in Rome from 1513 to 1516. Was our visitor looking at the same image Vasari and our marginal diarist describe as Lisa, or another portrait of a different woman, commissioned later?

All in all, just who we are seeing in the Louvre remains one of the work’s many mysteries.

A portrait stripped bare

In comparison to many contemporary images of the elite, this portrait is stripped of the usual trappings of high status or symbolic hints to the sitter’s dynastic heritage. All attention is thus drawn to her face, and that enigmatic expression.

Before the 18th century, emotion was more commonly articulated in painting through gestures of the hand and body than the face. But in any case, depictions of individuals did not aim to convey the same kinds of emotions we might look for in a portrait photograph today — think courage or humility rather than joy or happiness.

Additionally, a hallmark of elite status was one’s ability to keep the passions under good regulation. Irrespective of dental hygiene standards, a broad smile in artworks thus generally indicated ill-breeding or mockery, as we see in Leonardo’s own study of Five Grotesque Heads.

Our modern ideas about emotions leave us wondering just what Mona Lisa might have been feeling or thinking much more than the work’s early modern viewers likely did.

A 20th century phenomenon

In fact, there is a real question as to whether anyone before the 20th century thought much about the Mona Lisa at all. The historian Donald Sassoon has argued that much of the painting’s modern global iconic status rests on its widespread reproduction and use in all manner of advertising.

This notoriety was “helped” by its theft in 1911 by former Louvre employee, Vincenzo Peruggia . He remarkably walked out of the museum one evening after closing time with the painting wrapped in his smock coat. He spent the next two years with it hidden in his lodgings.

Shortly after its return, the Dadaist Marcel Duchamp used a postcard of the Mona Lisa as the basis for his 1919 ready-made work, LHOOQ, initials that sound in French as “she has a hot ass”.

Although not the first, it is perhaps among the best known examples of Mona Lisa parodies, along with Salvador Dali’s Self Portrait as Mona Lisa, 1954 .

Cultural furniture

From Duchamp and Dali, we have increasingly seen the Mona Lisa used as a trope. Balardung/Noongar artist Dianne Jones has reprised the work in her inkjet photographic portraits of 2005 , which are less pointed in their swipe at white European art and more luminous in their appropriation of Mona Lisa’s sense of dream-like plenitude.

The painting appears as cultural furniture in the recent music video Apeshit, 2019, by Beyoncé and Jay Z , in which they romp across the Louvre backed by a troupe of scantily clad dancers, striking Lady Hamilton-like poses in front of famous works of art.

Apeshit itself closely imitates earlier works of contemporary high culture, not least French New Wave film director Jean-Luc Godard’s Bande à Part (Band of Outsiders), 1964, in which three friends, including Mona Lisa-like Anna Karina (Godard’s famous muse), meet up and run through the Louvre in record time.

Meanwhile, the notorious theft of a work of art by German performance artist Ulay in 1976, in which he removed the most famous (and kitsch) painting in the National Gallery in Berlin, Carl Spitzweg’s 1839 portrait of The Poor Poet, was a reprise of the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911.

Many contemporary artists have rubbished all the reverence surrounding bucket-list art visits such as that to the Mona Lisa.

Recently, Belgian art provocateur Wim Delvoye (whose shit-producing machine, Cloaca, 2000, is one of the centrepieces of Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art) installed Suppo (2012), a giant steel corkscrew suppository, under the Louvre’s central glass entry pyramid. This made it the first sighting of art in the museum to which the Mona Lisa’s visitors flock.

Still, the mysteries of the Mona Lisa look set to intrigue us for years to come. It is precisely the breadth and depth of possible interpretations that makes her special. Mona Lisa is whoever we want her to be - and doesn’t that make her the ultimate female fantasy figure?

• Art history
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Leonardo revisited
• Leonardo da Vinci 2019

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Analysis of Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

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Essay on Mona Lisa

Students are often asked to write an essay on Mona Lisa in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Mona Lisa

The mona lisa’s mystery.

The Mona Lisa is a famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It shows a woman with a soft smile. People are curious about her smile. They also wonder who she is. Some think she is Lisa Gherardini, a merchant’s wife.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Masterpiece

Leonardo took many years to paint the Mona Lisa. He was very careful with details. The painting is small, but it is very valuable. It is kept in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Painting’s Fame

The Mona Lisa is well-known around the world. Many people visit the Louvre just to see it. The painting became even more famous when it was stolen in 1911. It was found and returned two years later.

250 Words Essay on Mona Lisa

Who is mona lisa.

The Mona Lisa is a world-famous painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a picture of a woman with a mysterious smile. This painting is special because many people are curious about who she was and why she is smiling. The woman in the painting is thought to be Lisa Gherardini, a lady from Florence, Italy.

Where Can You See Her?

You can find the Mona Lisa in a museum in Paris, France, called the Louvre. It is kept behind bulletproof glass to protect it because it is so precious. Every year, millions of people go to see this painting.

The Mystery of Her Smile

One of the reasons the Mona Lisa is so famous is because of her smile. It looks like it changes when you look at it from different angles. Some people think she is happy, while others think she might be sad. This mystery is part of what makes the painting interesting.

Why Is She Famous?

Besides her smile, the Mona Lisa is famous because Leonardo da Vinci was a very skilled painter. He used techniques that made her look real, like the way he painted her eyes and the light on her face. Also, the painting has been stolen in the past, which made it even more famous.

The Mona Lisa is not just a painting; it is a piece of history that has fascinated people for over 500 years. Its simplicity and mystery make it a masterpiece that people of all ages can appreciate.

500 Words Essay on Mona Lisa

Introduction to mona lisa.

The Mona Lisa is a world-famous painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is often called the best-known, the most visited, and the most written about piece of art in the world. The painting shows a woman sitting with her hands folded, and she has a gentle smile on her face. The Mona Lisa is a treasure that has been admired for many years and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

One of the most interesting things about the Mona Lisa is her smile. People often talk about how her smile seems to change when you look at it from different angles. Sometimes, it looks like she is smiling, and other times, it does not. This effect is because of Leonardo’s skillful painting technique. He was able to create this mysterious effect with his brushstrokes and the way he used light and shadow. This smile has made many people curious and has become a big reason why so many people love this painting.

The Woman in the Painting

The woman in the painting is believed to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy businessman from Florence, Italy. Her husband may have asked Leonardo to paint her portrait. Even though most people agree that it is Lisa in the painting, some still debate and come up with different ideas about who she might be. This adds to the mystery and interest in the Mona Lisa.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Technique

Leonardo da Vinci was not just a painter; he was also a scientist and an inventor. He used his knowledge of the world to make his paintings look real. In the Mona Lisa, he used a technique called ‘sfumato’, which means ‘gone up in smoke’ in Italian. This technique makes the edges look soft and helps to create a more lifelike image. Leonardo’s skill in painting and his use of this technique make the Mona Lisa a very special artwork.

The Painting’s Journey

The Mona Lisa has had a long history. After Leonardo finished it, the painting was in the hands of many different people and even a king of France. It was stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911 but was found and returned two years later. The painting has also been attacked and damaged, but it has been carefully fixed each time. Now, it is protected by bulletproof glass to keep it safe.

Why People Love the Mona Lisa

People from all over the world come to see the Mona Lisa. They might love it because of its mystery, the story behind it, or just because it is so famous. The painting is a piece of history and shows Leonardo da Vinci’s amazing talent. It is a symbol of how art can last for a very long time and still be important to many people.

The Mona Lisa is more than just a painting; it is a piece of human history that tells a story of art, mystery, and beauty. It shows Leonardo da Vinci’s incredible skill and reminds us why he is still known as one of the greatest artists ever. The Mona Lisa’s gentle smile will continue to fascinate and inspire people for many years to come.

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Larry Lucchino, Top Executive at Three M.L.B. Teams, Dies at 78

He oversaw design of new ballparks for the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres, as well as renovations for Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox.

By Richard Sandomir

Larry Lucchino, who as a top executive with the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres oversaw the design of modern stadiums that evoke their surroundings — Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore and Petco Park in San Diego — and who as president of the Boston Red Sox helped to preserve Fenway Park for generations, died on Tuesday at his home in Brookline, Mass. He was 78.

His family announced the death but did not give a cause. He had been treated for cancer three times.

Mr. Lucchino became president of the Red Sox in 2002 with the ascension of new ownership, led by John Henry, the team’s principal owner, and Tom Werner. In Mr. Lucchino’s 14 years with the team, the Red Sox won three World Series titles — the first of which, in 2004, broke an 86-year drought — and reached the postseason seven times. He oversaw improvements to Fenway Park that included installing seats above the Green Monster, the 37-foot-high left field wall, a well as expanding crowded concourses and creating new concession areas.

Rather than replacing it with a new stadium, Mr. Lucchino envisioned a renovation that would keep Fenway, which opened in 1912, viable for decades.

“Have you learned nothing?” Mr. Lucchino said to Charles Steinberg, another Red Sox executive, as quoted in a profile in The Sports Business Journal in 2021 . “You can’t destroy the Mona Lisa. You preserve the Mona Lisa.”

Mr. Lucchino’s combative, competitive personality played into the rivalry between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees. In 2002, after the Yankees signed the Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui and the Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras within a few days, Mr. Lucchino told The New York Times, “ The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America.”

The name stuck — even as Boston’s success in the coming years exceeded that of the Yankees. A year later, Mr. Lucchino further described the Yankees-Red Sox dynamic:

“It’s white hot,” he told The Times . “It’s a rivalry on the field, it’s a rivalry in the press, it’s a rivalry in the front office, it’s a rivalry among the fan base.”

The feeling was mutual.

Interviewed by The New York Times in 2007, Hank Steinbrenner, a son of the Yankees’ principal owner at the time, George Steinbrenner, said of the Red Sox , “If it wasn’t for the rivalry with us, they’d be just another team.”

Lawrence Lucchino was born on Sept. 6, 1945, in Pittsburgh. His father, Dominic, was a bar owner who later worked for the Pennsylvania court system. His mother, Rose (Rizzo) Lucchino, was a secretary and an accounting clerk.

Mr. Lucchino played second base on his high school baseball team, which won a city championship in Pittsburgh. At Princeton, he was a guard on the basketball team — the star of which was Bill Bradley — that made it to the Final Four of the 1965 N.C.A.A. men’s tournament before losing in the semifinals to the University of Michigan. Mr. Lucchino earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton in 1967.

He graduated from Yale Law School in 1971 and two years later joined the House Judiciary Committee as a staff lawyer and worked on the Watergate impeachment inquiry of President Richard M. Nixon. One of his colleagues was Hillary Clinton.

In 1974, Mr. Lucchino was hired by the powerful Washington law firm Williams & Connolly. Over the next 14 years, he became a partner at the firm as well as an executive of the Orioles and the Washington Redskins (now the Commanders) because Edward Bennett Williams, the celebrated trial lawyer who led the firm, owned interests in both teams.

“My career in baseball is a result of him, the opportunity he gave me, and the faith he had in me,” Mr. Lucchino told The Boston Globe in 2002.

After Mr. Williams’s death in 1988 , Mr. Lucchino officially became the Orioles’ president. In that role, he oversaw development of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which opened in 1992 with brick and steel aesthetics and asymmetrical field dimensions reminiscent of early-20th-century ballparks like Forbes Field, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, which he had gone to as a boy. The old B & O Railroad warehouse became a unique backdrop beyond right field.

Camden Yards is credited with inspiring other Major League Baseball teams to build idiosyncratic ballparks, often in downtown settings.

Mr. Lucchino worked on the Camden Yards, Petco and Fenway projects with Janet Marie Smith, who served as an Orioles and Red Sox executive and a consultant to the Padres. She described Mr. Lucchino as a strong-willed personality who cajoled architects and others to create the best results.

“He was always challenging everyone,” Ms. Smith said in a phone interview. “He’d say, ‘This is mediocre, we’re not settling for it.’” She added that he had disdained using the word “stadium” — which evoked the round, concrete facilities built in the 1960s and ’70s that housed baseball and football teams — “and he would fine you $1 if you said the ‘S-word.’”

Mr. Lucchino left the Orioles in late 1993, shortly after the team was purchased by Peter Angelos, who died last month . The next year, Mr. Lucchino was part of a group that unsuccessfully bid for his hometown Pirates. But in late December of 1994, he pivoted to become the president and a minority owner of the Padres. It was not a great time to buy a team: The players’ union was in the midst of a strike that had wiped out the postseason.

“The team was at the bottom of the hill,” Mr. Lucchino told The Sports Business Journal. “We had the worst attendance, the worst imagery, the worst revenue, the worst won-loss record. Probably the worst uniforms. It couldn’t have been any worse.”

The team improved on the field under his direction; it reached the World Series in 1998, but was swept by the Yankees. However, Mr. Lucchino was probably best known for his development work on Petco Park, which opened in 2004, three years after he left the team.

“He felt that Petco needed context, that it needed to be something about San Diego,” Ms. Smith said.

Petco’s features include a granite exterior; an old brick building that was incorporated into the interior of left field; a mini-park beyond the outfield with a small baseball diamond and a statue of the Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn; and spectacular views of San Diego Harbor from the upper deck.

Mr. Lucchino resigned from the Padres to join the Red Sox, where he helped to engineer a renaissance. One of his early hires, Theo Epstein, then 28, became the youngest general manager in baseball history and the architect of a roster overhaul that won the World Series in 2004 and 2007. (Mr. Epstein later moved to the Chicago Cubs organization, where he crafted their 2016 World Series-winning team.)

Mr. Lucchino is survived by his brother, Frank. His marriage to Stacey Johnson ended in divorce.

For his final baseball move, Mr. Lucchino went to the minor leagues. After leaving the Red Sox in 2015, he joined with other investors to buy the Pawtucket Red Sox in Rhode Island, the organization’s top minor league team. After the state’s failure to pass a stadium financing package, he moved the team to Worcester, Mass., where Polar Park opened in 2021.

Late last year, Mr. Lucchino sold the team — referred to as the WooSox — to Diamond Baseball Holdings, part of a private equity firm that owns 30 minor league teams in the United States and Canada.

“At 78, and after 44 years in baseball,” he said in a news release , “I believe it’s time to have a succession plan, one that assures a commitment to baseball and a commitment to Worcester.”

Richard Sandomir is an obituaries writer. He previously wrote about sports media and sports business. He is also the author of several books, including “The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper and the Making of a Classic.” More about Richard Sandomir

Larry Lucchino, former Red Sox president who won 3 World Series with team, dies at 78

Larry Lucchino , a former team president for the Boston Red Sox , Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres , died on Tuesday at age 78.

Lucchino, part of the original ownership group that purchased the Red Sox in December 2001 alongside principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner, served as president of the Red Sox from 2002 to 2016. During that time, the Red Sox won three World Series titles in 2004, 2007 and 2013. Lucchino was responsible for hiring 28-year-old general manager Theo Epstein in 2002, a move that helped the Red Sox break their 86-year championship drought in 2004.

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“Larry’s career unfolded like a playbook of triumphs, marked by transformative moments that reshaped ballpark design, enhanced the fan experience and engineered the ideal conditions for championships wherever his path led him, and especially in Boston,” Henry said in a statement. “Yet, perhaps his most enduring legacy lies in the remarkable people he helped assemble at the Red Sox, all of whom are a testament to his training, wisdom and mentorship.”

Lucchino was a staunch advocate of keeping the Red Sox at Fenway Park during a time when there were advanced discussions about moving the club to a new location within the city. Under his guidance, Fenway Park underwent significant renovations, including the addition of the seats above the Green Monster.

“I said (to Lucchino), ‘When we get to Boston, are we going to build a new ballpark?’” former Red Sox executive vice president Charles Steinberg said. “He said, ‘Have you learned nothing? You preserve the Mona Lisa!’”

Twenty years in, John Henry's ownership of Red Sox leaves lasting legacy

Luchhino also oversaw the 2011 construction of the Red Sox spring training complex JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. As a co-owner of the Red Sox Triple-A club, he also supervised a move from Pawtucket, R.I., to Worcester, Mass., which included the construction of the 9,500-seat Polar Park in Worcester.

Lucchino served as president of the Orioles from 1988 to 1993, overseeing the construction of Camden Yards in 1992. He served as president/CEO of the Padres from 1995 to 2001, during which time he authorized the construction of Petco Park in San Diego. The project was completed in 2004.

From 2016 to the time of his death, Lucchino served as chairman of the Jimmy Fund — the official charity of the Red Sox that has raised millions of dollars for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

In 2002, Lucchino famously dubbed the term “Evil Empire” in referring to New York Yankees at a time when Boston’s rivalry with New York was at its peak. The Yankees had beat out the Red Sox in signing high-profile free-agent Jose Contreras and Lucchino commented, “The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America”. The ‘Evil Empire’ phrase became synonymous with New York.

“Larry Lucchino was one of the most accomplished executives that our industry has ever had,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “He was deeply driven, he understood baseball’s place in our communities and he had a keen eye for executive talent.”

(Photo: Maddie Malhotra / Boston Red Sox / Getty Images)

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Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @ jcmccaffrey