Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)

Mona Lisa (La Gioconda), Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa. Nothing else needs to be said. The most famous painting in the world is housed in the most famous museum in the world, The Louvre, and protected in a climate-controlled, bulletproof casing. And so it should be. The original and replica Mona Lisa paintings have captured the imagination of art experts and fans worldwide. Who is the real woman behind Leonardo Mona Lisa? And why do so many people purchase a Mona Lisa reproduction?

The woman in both the original and reproduced Mona Lisa paintings remains somewhat of a mystery. While it is believed that Leonardo Mona Lisa was a woman by the name of Lisa del Giocondo, some still speculate that Mona Lisa was any number of influential women during that time period. Some theorists take the identity of Mona Lisa to the extreme and even suggest that it is a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci himself in female form. Overall, however, it is generally accepted that the woman so famously replicated in many a Mona Lisa reproduction was, indeed, Lisa del Giocondo, a woman whose familial roots were grounded in Florence and Tuscany, Italy.

Besides her identity itself, Giocondo’s smile is the subject of much study and debate in the Mona Lisa paintings. This satisfied, yet demure, smile is that of a woman who had just given birth to a son. Giocondo’s husband, Francesco, commissioned the Leonardo Mona Lisa to hang in their home to celebrate their new offspring. Any true Mona Lisa reproduction will also have that famous smile painted so subtly across the subject’s face. The replica will also be painted with the geometrical clarity Da Vinci was famous for. Notice how Mona Lisa has almost a pyramid form. This, along with da Vinci’s brilliant use of light to highlight portions of his subject makes the Mona Lisa and many other Da Vinci masterpieces truly one of a kind.

Obviously, art collectors cannot own the original of the Mona Lisa paintings. The original Leonardo Mona Lisa is most definitely not for sale. With so many replicas out there, however, how can a da Vinci fan be certain they are purchasing a Mona Lisa reproduction worthy of hanging in their own gallery? Any collector looking to add a replica of the most famous painting in the world needs to understand that quality replicas are hand-painted using the same techniques and style that Leonardo da Vinci used in the early 1500s when he painted the piece. Arts Heaven employs artists who do just that. These artists are experts in da Vinci’s use of form and light and recreate some of the best Mona Lisa reproductions in the world.