PEOPLE IN HISTORY          WARS, BATTLES AND REVOLUTIONS          MAP ARCHIVE          FAMOUS SPEECHES

 
 

GOVERNMENTS IN HISTORY          HISTORIC DOCUMENTS          HISTORIC PLACES AND LOCATIONS          ALL-TIME RECORDS IN HISTORY

 
 

SOURCE TEXT          SOURCE DOCUMENTS          HISTORY DICTIONARY          TIMELINES          ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS

 
   
 

HOME   -   PEOPLE IN HISTORY A-Z   -   LISA DEL GIOCONDO

 
   


Mona Lisa aka Lisa del Giocondo
Mona L.

 

Lisa del Giocondo 1479-1542

 



Lisa del Giocondo was born Lisa Gherardini.

She married Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo, a merchant from Florence.

Hence, the Mona Lisa is also called La Gioconda.

 

How did Lisa meet Leonardo and what makes this painting so special?

Husband Francesco commissioned the painting to celebrate either the purchase of a new home, or the birth of son Andrea, or both.

Experts tell us that this painting set the standard for all future portraits.
 

Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known as the Mona Lisa (the Joconde in French)
Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known as the Mona Lisa (the Joconde in French)
Height 0.77 m / 30 in. Width 0.53 m / 20 in.

Musée du Louvre

 


Why exactly did this painting become such a bombshell?

The Louvre tells us:

Such aspects of the work as the three-quarter view of a figure against a landscape, the architectural setting, and the hands joined in the foreground were already extant in Flemish portraiture of the second half of the 15th century, particularly in the works of Hans Memling.

However, the spacial coherence, the atmospheric illusionism, the monumentality, and the sheer equilibrium of the work were all new.

In fact, these aspects were also new to Leonardo's work, as none of his earlier portraits display such controlled majesty.

[...] The Mona Lisa's famous smile represents the sitter in the same way that the juniper branches represent Ginevra Benci and the ermine represents Cecilia Gallerani in their portraits, in Washington and Krakow respectively.

Ginevra de' Benci - Leonardo da Vinci

Lady With an Ermine (Cecilia Gallerani) - Leonardo da Vinci

Ginevra de' Benci
Leonardo da Vinci
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Lady With an Ermine
(Cecilia Gallerani)
Leonardo da Vinci
Czartoryski Museum, Krakow

 

[...] The nature of the landscape also plays a role. The middle distance, on the same level as the sitter's chest, is in warm colors. Men live in this space: there is a winding road and a bridge.

This space represents the transition between the space of the sitter and the far distance, where the landscape becomes a wild and uninhabited space of rocks and water which stretches to the horizon, which Leonardo has cleverly drawn at the level of the sitter's eyes.

 

This portrait was painted in Florence between 1503 and 1506. In 1518, it was acquired by Francis I.


And here is more about
Leonardo da Vinci.
 

 

 

More History



Previous Page

Leopold II
 


Back to

First Page

Back to
People in History
Main Page

 



Next Page

Livy
 


 



People in History A - Z
 

 

People in History by Group


Explorers, Scientists & Inventors

Musicians, Painters & Artists

Poets, Writers & Philosophers

Native Americans & The Wild West

First Ladies

Popes

Troublemakers

Historians

Archaeologists

Royal Families

Tribes & Peoples

 


King John of England 1167-1216

 

Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible 1530 - 1584

 

Adolf Hitler 1889 - 1945

 

 

Famous Speeches in History
Browse the speech archive:

Speeches by Topic A-Z

Speeches by Speaker A-Z

Speeches in Chronological Order

Speeches Given by Women

Speeches Given by African-Americans

Speeches Given by U.S. Presidents





Wars, Battles & Revolutions in History




 

Online History Dictionary A - Z

Online History Dictionary A - Z

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

French Revolution - Its Causes, Its Victims, Its Effects

     
 


People in History

People in History A

People in History B

People in History Ca - Char

People in History Chas - Cz

People in History D

People in History E

People in History F

People in History G

People in History H

People in History I

People in History J - K

People in History L

People in History M

People in History N - O

People in History P - Q

People in History R

People in History S

People in History T

People in History U - Z


Explorers, Scientists & Inventors

Musicians, Painters & Artists


Poets, Writers & Philosophers

Native Americans & The Wild West

First Ladies

Popes

Troublemakers

Historians

Archaeologists

Royal Families

Tribes & Peoples

 


Wars, Battles & Revolutions

Wars & Revolutions A

Wars & Revolutions B - E

Wars & Revolutions F - G

Wars & Revolutions H - J

Wars & Revolutions K - O

Wars & Revolutions P - R

Wars & Revolutions S - Z

Wars & Revolutions Chronological

Battles A - C

Battles D - G

Battles H - L


Battles M - P

Battles Q - Z

Battles Ancient Times - 1499

Battles 1500 - 1699

Battles 1700 - 1799

Battles 1800 - 1899

Battles 1900 - Today
 


Miscellaneous

History Dictionary A - F

History Dictionary G - Z

Source Text - By Title

Source Text - By Author

Historic Documents A - K

Historic Documents L - Z

Historic Documents Chronological

Music in History

History Movies

Research

Bored?

Kids & History

Browse

About Us

Write Me

 


Sitemaps

Sitemap 01   Sitemap 02   Sitemap 03    Sitemap 04   Sitemap 05   Sitemap 06  
Sitemap 07   Sitemap 08   Sitemap 09    Sitemap 10   Sitemap 11   Sitemap 12
Sitemap 13   Sitemap 14   Sitemap 15    Sitemap 16   Sitemap 17   Sitemap 18
Sitemap 19   Sitemap 20   Sitemap 21    Sitemap 22   Sitemap 23   Sitemap 24


Site Search

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL

 

© 2016 Emerson Kent