Mona Lisas Identiy finally discovered?
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: General History
Forum Name: Historical Arts and Architecture
Forum Discription: Discuss arts, literature, and architecture before the 19th century
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=23226
Printed Date: 25-Apr-2024 at 07:33
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Topic: Mona Lisas Identiy finally discovered?
Posted By: kilroy
Subject: Mona Lisas Identiy finally discovered?
Date Posted: 15-Jan-2008 at 04:57
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Came across a fairly intriguing article today. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080114/wl_nm/germany_mona_lisa_dc Researchers think they have finally, and definitively discovered the identity of the women whom posed for one of the worlds most famous paintings ever: the Mona Lisa. Dr. Armin Schlechter (a manuscript expert) believes he has found the answer through the notes the owner (during 1503) had in his position about the painting itself. The Womens name is Lisa Del Giocondo. Read the article above to learn more. Perhaps they really did learn her identity. ------------- Kilroy was here. |
Replies:
Posted By: Leonardo
Date Posted: 15-Jan-2008 at 07:18
Just a little correction, the correct spelling is "Monna Lisa", "Mona" ... mmm ... has another embarassing meaning 
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Posted By: Styrbiorn
Date Posted: 15-Jan-2008 at 08:59
| Outside of modern Italy it's spelled Mona though ;) |
Posted By: Melisende
Date Posted: 16-Jan-2008 at 08:55
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And I believe that originally, it was short for "madonna"
------------- "For my part, I adhere to the maxim of antiquity: The throne is a glorious sepulchre." |
Posted By: Leonardo
Date Posted: 16-Jan-2008 at 13:09
... and you are right
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Posted By: drgonzaga
Date Posted: 16-Jan-2008 at 13:39
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Let's get right down to brass tacks and say the "identification" may be characterized as Teutonic spin on a slow news day. Not that a written reference by the peripatetic Agostino Vespucci is unimportant but it has long been established that at this time the connections between Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Agostino Vespucci were close in their professional activities as surviving correspondence indicates [see the compendium of correspondence prepared by James Atkinson and David Sices., trans. & eds. Machiavelli and his Friends, Their Personal Correspondence. DeKalb: NIU Press, 1996]. Back in 2004 Giussepe Pallanti published a good monograph titled Monna Lisa, Mulier Ingenua: con documenti originali sul matrimonio, il figli, il testamento del marito (Firenze: Polistampa, 2004), subsequently he also ascertained her death and internment at Sant'Orsola Convent of Florence in 1542. Thus, what should be said of the announcement made by Heidelberg is that the identity asserted by Professor Pallanti has been confirmed.
Now as to all the folderol over the "smile", such is all 19th century hyperbole and subsequent art "criticism" given the fact that such an expression is typical of Da Vinci's style [and may be assigned as a fashion of the Florentine school as seen in the work of Donatello and Da Messina]. One could go on at length over such esoterica as the eyebrows and a missing painting--as well as the fantasy of Da Vinci in drag--but folks such is nothing more than proof that "professionals" are just as susceptible to conspiracy theories as the hoi polloi!
By the way, Leonardo (the poster and not the artist) is correct. It is Vasari who coined the name "Monna Lisa" for the portrait in his monumental survey of artists back in 1550--and such is a contraction for madonna (just as the English ma'am stands for madam)--not as a nickname but as an explanation and identification of the sitter: Madonna Lisa del Giocondo. ------------- |
Posted By: Ragozy
Date Posted: 17-Jan-2008 at 04:24
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Nice history lesson and a good article. Thanks. I did like the idea of it being Da Vinci...sort of gave him an ego and a sense of humor. ------------- "The truest measure of a society is how it treats its elderly, its pets, and its prisoners." |
Posted By: Brian J Checco
Date Posted: 17-Jan-2008 at 04:40
Regardless of whether or not he painted himself in drag, it's certain that Da Vinci had an ego and a sense of humor His sketches of grotesques prove that. |
Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 18-Aug-2010 at 17:04
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In person, it is rather a drab and small painting! At least that is what I have been told! ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: DreamWeaver
Date Posted: 19-Aug-2010 at 07:44
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It is. You fight your way through a crowd to see it, and then.....thats it.
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Posted By: necoo
Date Posted: 04-Sep-2010 at 02:48
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And I believe that originally, it was short for "madonna"
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Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 12-Dec-2013 at 01:05
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Actually, with that quizzical smile, maybe she was?
Ron ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |