‘ART’ the typical definition of art is- The creative activity that expresses, imaginative and technical skill, but it is more than this definition. Works created by an artist are given names as ‘painting’ ‘sculptures’ etc. It is not just a 3 letter word it is something to do with the achievement of stillness in the middle of anguish and chaos.
When we talk about paintings, the painter whose name comes to our mind is none other than Leonardo Da Vinci and from his creations; the first name which pops out is definitely “Mona Lisa”. It is not wrong to say that Mona Lisa is the most famous, alluring, magnificent but most suspicious and implausible painting of the world.
Commencing with the painting ‘Mona Lisa’ is a 16th- century painting painted by the great “Leonardo Da Vinci” from oil and popular wood. It is a 30X21 inches painting, Leonardo used more than 30 layers to paint. He used a technique called ‘Sfumato’ for blending colors and it was such a fine art that not even a single stroke of the brush could be seen. In Italian Mona Lisa means ‘My Lady’. At present time ‘Mona Lisa’ hangs in the museum in ‘Musee de Louvre’ of Paris basically under the surveillance of the French government.
It is truly said that time becomes meaningless in the face of creativity. The most accurate instance is this painting. Leonardo took 14 years to complete his masterpiece. In 1503 he started painting and completed it in 1517. The most time-consuming part was her lips; it took Leonardo almost 12 years just to paint her lips. Mona Lisa’s painting shows a woman whose facial expression is uncanny. The painting connects and links nature with humanity with a faint smile. The most enigmatic thing about her facial expression is her smile. Because of her smile plethora of questions had been raised in history. Her smile keeps changing from different angles, then disappears but later from the research we got to know that the Mona Lisa had some secrets hidden in the painting. That’s why her smile is so alluring. After a few years, a doctor claimed that the reason for her smile is the gap between the teeth. But later in 2000, a neuroscientist Dr. Margret of Harvard told that her smile doesn’t change the mindset of people keeps on changing. It’s all in the mind of viewers that how they want to see Mona Lisa. This is not just one thing that is obtruding. There are a plethora of questions in the mind of viewers for this painting. Many researchers, scientists came and put forward their views on this painting. The most stupefied thing, which came was by the ‘Paranormal Crucible’. They believed that when the painting is seen from the left side with a mirror an alien figure was getting formed and when we see in her eyes there was a hidden message written in it. But there is no such proof that to what extent is this appropriate or relevant.
There is another painting of the Mona Lisa present on Earth and that’s a replica of the Mona Lisa. It was painted by one of the students of Leonardo whose name was Francesco Melzi. At present, the replica of the Mona Lisa is kept in the capital of Spain. Leonardo was not just a painter; he was a well-known writer as well. So whatever masterpiece he used to make, the theory about the painting is written somewhere, but it so uncanny to know that he didn’t write anything about Mona Lisa anywhere. Her name never came into any book or any kind of discussion.
The history of the painting is that in 1516, on the invitation of King Francis of France, Leonardo went to France and there he completed the painting in France. But after the death of Leonardo in 1519 one of his students ‘Salai’ gave the painting to the king of France. At present, there are so many theories, facts, and thesis about the painting but no one knows that actually who Mona Lisa is? Many people believed that the lady in the painting is not a woman that is Leonardo himself. Leonardo imagined him as a woman and painted it but then there is another thesis as well which says Mona Lisa is a Florence Italian woman. Her real name is Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco Del Gherardini who was the friend of Leonardo.
We all know Mona Lisa is kept in Louvre Museum. So most of the people from various parts of the country come to see only the painting of the Mona Lisa and it is surrounded by an enormous crowd of people. In the museum on the opposite of the Mona Lisa, a very large painting name “The Wedding fest At Canny” by Paolo Veronese is also kept but it doesn’t get that much attention as Mona Lisa get just because that painting is not famous or not a popular artist had made it. People don’t see the effort put by other painters. At the end of the day if we are true art lovers then we should praise the work of every artist.