From: rihamessam@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:00:07 -0700 (PDT)
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is a portrait of the wife of a French merchant Francesco di Bartolommeo di Zanobi del Giocondo, a twenty-five- year-old woman. It was painted in the years 1503 - 1506. The painting has its own, rich legend, according to which it has reached the highest summit of a creator's artistic capabilities, it is considered an artistic relic. As early as in 1550 Vasari described the portrait with words full of genuine admiration. He called it "the most magnificent, almost living work of art". Leonardo didn't part with his painting until his death, afterwards it enriched the collection of the Frech kings. During the entire sixteenth century many imitations and variants of the piece were made, whereas in the twentieth century avant-garde artists, such as Marcel Duchamp, did everything to prevent the painting from being considered a sacred model of beauty. The most damage however was done by time, as over the years the painting lost its
freshness and the brightness of colours. In the years 1911 - 1915 it was stolen from the Louvre and kept in Italy. Mona Lisa's famous smile isn't something unusual, as Leonardo gave nearly all persons in his later works a secretive smile.
Jean Metzinger's (1883 - 1956) painting called Afternoon coffee (1911) doesn't in fact show Gioconde, but it has been however called The Mona Lisa of cubism
Marcel Duchamp (1887 - 1986) is considered the initiator of ready-mades - real objects, out of which he makes a work of art by adding a small detail of his own according to his inspiration. One of the most famous ready-mades is Joconde L.H.O.O.Q. dating from 1919. It is a reproduction of Leonard's Mona Lisa, where Duchamp painted a moustache on the merchant's wife and the letters L.H.O.O.Q., which when spoken out loud in French becomes "elle a chaud au cul", or "she is hot in the arse" alluding to the rumour that the Mona Lisa was a self-portrait and that Leonadro was homosexual.
Fernand L?ger's (1881 - 1955) Mona Lisa with Keys (1930) is one of his most intriguing pieces.
Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) used other paintings in his works several times, for example Leonaro da Vinci's Last Supper. He also made Mona Lisa's double portrait .
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Mona Lisa
 | Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is a portrait of the wife of a French merchant Francesco di Bartolommeo di Zanobi del Giocondo, a twenty-five- year-old woman. It was painted in the years 1503 - 1506. The painting has its own, rich legend, according to which it has reached the highest summit of a creator's artistic capabilities, it is considered an artistic relic. As early as in 1550 Vasari described the portrait with words full of genuine admiration. He called it "the most magnificent, almost living work of art". Leonardo didn't part with his painting until his death, afterwards it enriched the collection of the Frech kings. During the entire sixteenth century many imitations and variants of the piece were made, whereas in the twentieth century avant-garde artists, such as Marcel Duchamp, did everything to prevent the painting from being considered a sacred model of beauty. The most damage however was done by time, as over the years the painting lost its freshness and the brightness of colours. In the years 1911 - 1915 it was stolen from the Louvre and kept in Italy. Mona Lisa's famous smile isn't something unusual, as Leonardo gave nearly all persons in his later works a secretive smile. |
| Jean Metzinger's (1883 - 1956) painting called Afternoon coffee (1911) doesn't in fact show Gioconde, but it has been however called The Mona Lisa of cubism |  |
 | Marcel Duchamp (1887 - 1986) is considered the initiator of ready-mades - real objects, out of which he makes a work of art by adding a small detail of his own according to his inspiration. One of the most famous ready-mades is Joconde L.H.O.O.Q. dating from 1919. It is a reproduction of Leonard's Mona Lisa, where Duchamp painted a moustache on the merchant's wife and the letters L.H.O.O.Q., which when spoken out loud in French becomes "elle a chaud au cul", or "she is hot in the arse" alluding to the rumour that the Mona Lisa was a self-portrait and that Leonadro was homosexual. |
| Fernand L?ger's (1881 - 1955) Mona Lisa with Keys (1930) is one of his most intriguing pieces. |  |
 | Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) used other paintings in his works several times, for example Leonaro da Vinci's Last Supper. He also made Mona Lisa's double portrait . |
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