Lisa del Giocondo

August 17, 2022

Ron

LISA

Who Discovered Mona Lisa's Identity? What Would She Look Like Today?

[From the video’s notes:]

In today's video we're going to bring to life 'The Mona Lisa', often regarded as the world's most famous painting by Italian polymath, Leonardo da Vinci. But, first let's learn a few historical facts about the woman portrayed in this painting.

The painting was completed between 1503 and 1506 but it is believed Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. The mysterious smile of the Mona Lisa has captivated and inspired many writers, singers, and painters all over the world. Over time it has become an icon of the Renaissance. Who was this woman?

The identity of this enigmatic woman was a subject of many speculations and remained unknown for centuries. However, by pure chance, a German historian working at the University Library of Heidelberg named Dr. Armin Schlechter uncovered a significant find while organizing old manuscripts for an exhibition in early 2005. He discovered a margin note by Agostino Vespucci from October 1503 in a book that belongs to the library. The note identifies Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, as Mona Lisa.

Lisa del Giocondo was an Italian noblewoman of the Gherardini family and she was married to Francesco del Giocondo, a successful silk merchant, whose family resided in Florence and Tuscany. It is believed that the painting was commissioned in 1503 for their new home and to celebrate the birth of their first son. Lisa went on to became a mother of five children and led what is thought to have been a comfortable and ordinary middle-class life. She outlived her husband, who was considerably her senior.

Leonardo's work on the Mona Lisa was most likely delayed when he was commissioned to complete more valuable work. Thus, he always considered the portrait unfinished. He was not paid for the work and did not deliver it to his client. Leonardo carried the portrait with him throughout his life. Leonardo spent his final three years in France, at the invitation of King Francis I, where he died in 1519. The painting was then acquired by Francis I and has been in the custody of France ever since. The Mona Lisa now hangs behind bulletproof glass in a gallery of the Louvre Museum in Paris, where it has been on display since 1804, or possibly even earlier.

Infamously, on August 21st, 1911, the painting was stolen from Louvre Museum. The culprit was Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian patriot who believed that Leonardo's painting should have been returned to an Italian museum. He carried out the theft by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and walking out with the painting hidden under his coat after the museum had closed. After having kept the Mona Lisa in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was caught when he attempted to sell it to Giovanni Poggi, director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It was exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery for over two weeks and returned to the Louvre on 4 January 1914. Peruggia served six months in prison for the crime and was hailed in Italy for his patriotism.

MONA LISA

MONA-KA

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Indian:

A spiritual aspect of the individual, living within the body during life, and surviving the body after death. It was believed to be one of two spirits inhabiting the body, the other being the ba, which deserts the body at death.

Egyptian:

A spiritual part of the soul in Egyptian mythology, which survived after death.