Lisa del giocondo biography examples

Though del Giocondo was born in Naples, where she lived as a girl, her maiden name Ghevardini was that of an ancient, noble family of Florentines. In , she married Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy Florentine merchant; during the rest of her life, as far as is known, she lived in Florence, where she seems to have been a happy wife and mother, but of her later years there is no record.

It was probably in the first year of her marriage that she met Leonardo da Vinci , and a friendship began that grew into a platonic affection, about which many writers have woven romance. In , according to a contemporary art critic Giorgio Vasari , da Vinci was commissioned by Francesco del Giocondo to paint his wife's portrait. Physically, morally and intellectually, Lisa del Giocondo fascinated da Vinci; he painted her again and again.

The extent of her influence is manifest in much of his work, and his major paintings produce something of her personality. The Mona Lisa smile can be found over and over in Northern Italy where works of da Vinci and his pupils are to be seen; the painting, known as La Gioconda or Mona Lisa set a fashion in vitality and subtlety of expression absolutely unrivalled.

In , da Vinci journeyed to France, to the court of Francis I, who cordially welcomed the artist and heaped him with honors. The artist brought with him the portrait, La Gioconda, for which the king paid him 4, gold ecus, an immense sum in those days. After the French Revolution , the painting with "the irresistible enigmatic smile" found its final resting place on the walls of the Louvre.

On August 21, , the artistic world was shocked by the news that the Mona Lisa had been stolen, but it was returned after several months. An Italian painter, employed by the museum, had walked off with the painting and tried to sell it in Italy. It now hangs as of old, one of the chief ornaments of the Louvre, and one of the most precious pictures in France.

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Lisa del giocondo biography examples

He is thought to have commissioned Lisa's portrait to celebrate both Andrea's birth and the purchase of the family's home. She was 40 when he died, and the portrait was still partly unfinished. The Mona Lisa fulfilled 15th- and early 16th century requirements for portraying a woman of virtue. Lisa is portrayed as a faithful wife through gesture—her right hand rests over her left.

Leonardo also presented Lisa as fashionable and successful, perhaps more well-off than she was. Her dark garments and black veil were Spanish-influenced high fashion; they are not a depiction of mourning for her first daughter, as some scholars have proposed. The portrait is strikingly large; its size is equal to that of commissions acquired by wealthier art patrons of the time.

This extravagance has been explained as a sign of Francesco and Lisa's social aspiration. During the spring of , Leonardo had no income source, which may in part explain his interest in a private portrait. The painting's title dates to An acquaintance of at least some of Francesco's family, [ 58 ] Giorgio Vasari , wrote, "Leonardo undertook to paint, for Francesco del Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife.

In French it is known by the variant La Joconde. Although it is derived from Lisa's married name, there is the added significance that the name derives from the word for "happy" in English: "jocund" or "the happy one". Speculation assigned Lisa's name to at least five different paintings, [ d ] and her identity to at least ten different people.

Bambach put the conjecturing to rest "more or less definitively" after an expert at the Heidelberg University Library in discovered a marginal note in a book in the library's collection—confirming the traditional view that the sitter was Lisa. The theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in and its travels to Asia and North America during the s and s contributed to the painting's iconization and fame.

Media related to Lisa Gherardini at Wikimedia Commons. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Italian noblewoman and subject of the Mona Lisa — For the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, see Mona Lisa. Lisa was portrayed in the Mona Lisa detail above by Leonardo da Vinci.

Florence, Republic of Florence. Jump to: navigation , search. Previous Liquid crystal display. Main article: Mona Lisa. History of Vignamaggio. Oxford University Press, June 15, Discovery Channel News. Discovery Communications. Volume IV , 39 [6] Firenze: G. Sansoni , rev. Stites, Mona Lisa—Monna Bella. The Two "Mona Lisas". Credits New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards.

The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: Lisa del Giocondo history The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia : History of "Lisa del Giocondo" Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. Categories : Art Biography.

Privacy policy. About New World Encyclopedia. See Terms of Use for details. Lisa del Giocondo. June 15, Florence , Italy. The portrait's size was quite extravagant, matching the standards of wealthier art patrons of that era. In , Leonardo needed money, so he worked on the Mona Lisa, but he had to pause when he received a more valuable commission for "The Battle of Anghiari" later that year.

The title "Mona Lisa" came about in when Giorgio Vasari , who knew Francesco's family, mentioned that Leonardo painted it for Francesco del Giocondo, Lisa's husband. In Italian, it's called "La Gioconda," the feminine form of her married name. In French, it's known as "La Joconde," which also carries the meaning of "the happy one", derived from the word "jocund".

Contents move to sidebar hide. Page Talk. Read Change Change source View history. Tools Tools. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Not to be confused with Mona Lisa. Mona Lisa , a portrait of Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci. Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo.