Was Mona Lisa's smile not genuine?

So if her smile is ‘forced’, what could that mean? Dr Ricciardi explained: “Of course, we know that posing for a picture for many hours will result in a forced expression. But we also know that Leonardo was a master of ‘sfumato’ – the technique of shading which is used to demonstrate expression. He deliberately raised her left lip, as if to paint a smirk. He would have known that curving the lip on both sides and adding folds around the eyes would have shown a genuine smile. And he had this knowledge hundreds of years before Duchenne’s work in the 1800s. So we have enjoyed hypothesising that this asymmetry was a deliberate action. What we still don’t know is the reason that he portrayed her this way – so her smile is as elusive as ever!”

Source:
St George’s University of London
Media Contacts:
Lucia Ricciardi – St George’s University of London

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ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M

Recently saw a documentary that pointed out pretty much EVERY woman DaVinci painted had that smile. Plus, re the model sitting for so long -- I believe Da Vinci carried that painting around for years while he worked on it.

DallasCowboysFan · 61-69, M

@ChipmunkErnie He carried it around because many people say it was his mother, and others say it was an image of the Virgin Mary that he saw. I guess we will never know. Perhaps a psychic can tell us.

rinkydinkydoink · M

@DallasCowboysFan @ChipmunkErnie

Then there's the suggestion it's Da Vinci himself.

DallasCowboysFan · 61-69, M

@rinkydinkydoink Someone analyzed it and said that her head is different from her shoulders. They suggested that it may have been at least 2 people. But I recall that it may have been DaVinci himself. But if it was, why was he so uptight about carrying it with him wherever he went?

I always thought it would be a good idea if artists would leave a comment on the back of each painting, to explain the idea behind it, where it was painted and the days it took to complete. It would answer a lot of questions people might have 300 years later.

rinkydinkydoink · M

@DallasCowboysFan

This is why someone better invent a time machine right quick... so many ancient riddles need to be looked into.

I was watching a doc about 40 yrs ago that looked into how the Egyptians got their obelisks raised. The filmakers tried raising one themselves but could not do it. Then... about 5 yrs ago I was watching another documentary about Egyptian stone masons and lo and behold there was a millennias-old, how-to diagram on obelisk-raising etched into the wall of the quarry.

ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M

@rinkydinkydoink I've heard that, but doesn't look like it to me. The experts seem to have pretty much traced the woman who posed for it, even to the street and house she lived in, which still exists.

rinkydinkydoink · M

@ChipmunkErnie

That makes more sense. Not everything needs to be a mystery (in order to sell books maybe?)

ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M

@rinkydinkydoink Like THE DA VINCI CODE, which totally messed up everything about Da Vinci and his art.

rinkydinkydoink · M

@ChipmunkErnie

Seems to me I started to read the book - but soon abandoned it LOL

ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M

@rinkydinkydoink I read it because someone gave it to us when it was first popular, but I found the explanations/theories about Da Vinci's art so far off from everything I knew about Da Vinci it was a great let down.