Mona Lisa Art by Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa Art by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian artist who is well known for his paintings. Mona Lisa is a portrait painting by the Italian artist that is considered as one of the most valuable paintings in the world. Mona Lisa is believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1517. The half-length portrait consists of a smiling woman. Different theories have emerged, explaining who is the subject in the painting, and why she is smiling. However, various theorists have agreed that Lisa Gherardini, an Italian noblewoman, is the painting’s main figure who was included to elaborate on the Italian renaissance. The natural calm of Mona Lisa and the landscape behind her illustrates the use of atmospheric illusionism in paintings.

Line, shape, and tone are essential elements that make a piece of artwork as depicted in the Mona Lisa painting. In art, a line is defined as the trajectory left by a moving point such as a pencil during painting. Leonardo da Vinci uses lines to show the various parts of the subject (Mehra & Campbell, 1325). Lines can be curved, horizontal, or diagonal. Leonardo utilizes curved lines to form Mona Lisa’s face. Mona Lisa’s hair is created through a combination of flat and curved lines. Also, curved lines are used to form the clothing in the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Size is another element of art used by Leonardo in his Mona Lisa painting. Organic shapes, such as mountains, are used in the background of the painting. The background can be seen away back from the main subject, which signifies a significant role of perspective in Leonardo’s work. The central figure in Leonardo’s artistic work appears to be curved, which conveys a tone of gentleness.

Leonardo utilized several principles of design to organize and make his artistic work appealing to the target audience. Harmony is an essential principle of design that allows the artist to create togetherness and cohesiveness among separate parts of the art through the use of elements of art. In the Mona Lisa painting, Leonardo uses curvy lines and organic shapes to create harmony instead of using straight lines and geometric shapes. The visual quality of Leonardo’s painting allows him to create unity, which is an essential principle of design. By blending of different colors, Leonardo da Vinci displays unity and harmony in the Mona Lisa painting. Trees, mountains, and clouds form the background in the Mona Lisa painting. Harmony in the art can be achieved through the use of different components that share similar characteristics. Therefore, atmospheric elements form the background of the artistic work by Leonardo, which enables him to create harmony and unity in the painting.

Focal point and balance are fundamental design principles in the art that were employed by Leonardo while designing the Mona Lisa painting (Catani & Mazzarello, 1842). Balance is a design principle that allows artists to use various elements equally o create stability in particular artistic works. In Leonardo’s artistic work, there is no element that overpowers the other, which creates balance. A symmetrical type of balance is utilized in the Mona Lisa painting. In the symmetrical balance, one part of the artwork mirrors the other. The trees, mountains, and rivers are presented in equal proportions. Leonardo uses balance because both sides of the central figure in the painting are symmetric to one another. In art, the focal point is considered as the point of the primary concern. In the   Mona Lisa painting, Mona Lisa’s image forms the focal point. Leonardo blends various colors to make the Mona Lisa image to stand out of all the other images in the painting.

Mona Lisa is created on high-quality material to increase the depth of the famous artwork. Leonardo used Oil paint in the poplar panel in his creative work. The poplar wood panel was a high-quality material at the time when Leonardo was designing the Mona Lisa artistic work. The wood used by Leonardo in this work had been cut from a single piece of wood. In 1951, an oak frame was incorporated in Leonardo’s painting. Leonardo used both smooth and rough surfaces in his art. The leading figure’s face is made on a smooth surface, while the backdrop is built on a rough surface.

Representational, abstract, figurative, and non-objective are the major categories of art. Representational art includes objects that exist in real life on the portrait of the art. In Mona Lisa painting, identifiable objects such as mountains, trees, and rivers are used (Ball, 32). Therefore, Mona Lisa art can be classified as representational. In abstract art, the effect of art is achieved through the use of form, color, and shapes without the use of real images. In the Mona Lisa art, the real image of the main figure is used; hence the artwork can be classified as abstract rather than non-objective.

In conclusion, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is great artistic work. The dark veil that is used to cover the hair of the main figure is a symbol of social status in the community. The smile of the main figure in the art symbolizes the feeling of happiness that was created by the Italian renaissance. Harmony between the main figure and landscape, unity, and balance are essential principles of design that qualifies Mona Lisa as an outstanding artistic work.

Works Cited

Ball, Philip. “Art: Under Mona Lisa’s smile.” Nature 546.7656 (2017): 32.

Catani, Marco, and Paolo Mazzarello. “Grey Matter Leonardo da Vinci: a genius driven to            distraction.” (2019): 1842-1846.

Mehra, Mandeep R., and Hilary R. Campbell. “The Mona Lisa decrypted: allure of an imperfect   reality.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Vol. 93. No. 9. Elsevier, 2018.