Analysis of Painting Techniques in Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

The Portrait of Lisa Gheradini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, is an oil painting. Leonardo da Vinci uses sfumato and composition arrangement while painting the Mona Lisa. One technique, Da Vinci used in his artwork was focus and blur. Shadow is used at the bottom of the painting, at the edges, and the background to make the background blur out of the image. He uses this technique to draw attention to the facial details. Da Vinci also uses perspective in his painting to create an illusion of depth, to make some objects appear smaller and less detailed.

If you look up close at Mona Lisa's face you can notice the soft transitions between light and darker tones, this technique improves the piece. The “mysterious smile” makes this piece so special, because it is open to interpretation. It is a smile that certainly does not tell us her feelings, it is ambiguous. Each viewer comes with a different theory as to what this mysterious smile means. Da Vinci creates this smile by using perspective and shadow, the eyes are the focal point and the mouth is the periphery. If light comes in directly through the eye you see details, but if it comes through the corner of your eye you see shapes, shadows, and color, this is another technique Da Vinici used. If you look directly at her the smile it is different, then if you look at it from the side. The method the painter used was called the “Mona Lisa Effect”.

In 1911, the painting was stolen by the Italien man, Vincenzo Perucigo. After 28 months, the kidnapper wanted to sell the painting to an art dealer in Florence. Perucigo was immediately arrested and the painting was brought back to the Louvre. After the crime, people from all around the globe want to see the masterpiece created by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting has influenced numerous painters and artists. The Mona Lisa was recreated multiple times by other artists, this indicates that this piece is so significant.

Only the elite were able to afford being painted during the Renaissance. It was an expensive proposition. The portraits were that expensive, that they were only reserved for the nobility. The fact that a wealthy merchant would hire Leonardo to paint his wife's portrait is a reminder of the fortunes being made by traders, bankers, and others in the Renaissance.

I selected this piece because it is the world's most famous piece of art, the techniques and the skills the artists use are fascinating.