The Mona Lisa

June 22, 2012

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci is arguably the most famous painting of all time.  And many regard it as the best painting of all time.  No doubt more has been written about this painting than any other.  (Google away...)

The history of the painting is interesting.  In this note I highlight that Leonardo kept the painting through his lifetime, though the sitter has traditionally been identified as Lisa del Giocondo, a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany in Italy.  He never delivered it.  Why might that be?

Any of us who are involved in creative endeavors of any kind understand that some of our "creations" are not so good, others are good,  and some are outstanding - at least by our own personal standards.  I am a painter, not by profession, and I understand this full well.  Even in my professional life, I see the same.   When it comes to Leonardo, of course, the scale of quality is immeasurably greater.  He was beyond the normal scale of human intelligence and artistic talent.   But that's not the point today.  What is the point is that in my own creative endeavors sometimes I go beyond outstanding.  I get lucky.  In my painting, this has happened twice.  I still have those paintings, and from time-to-time I look at them and ask, "How did I ever do that?"

I feel confident that many poets, authors, physicists, and others have had entirely similar experiences.

This is what I posit about the Mona Lisa.  The painting so absolutely transfixed Leonardo, he just could not deliver it to his client.  He got lucky.  I can certainly imagine him asking himself the same question, or however geniuses do such things. 
P.S. Believe me, I am so humbled by the works of great artists, I cannot bring myself to do any kind of analysis on the works themselves.  I don't know why others do.