Psychology of the Pearl Handle 36 x 24 http://www.mahoneyart.comThis painting is my closest approximation to the Mona Lisa. I don't do many portraits with mysterious allure, but this painting seemed to have an ironic, connection to the 'iconic' portrait by Leonardo.
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Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born April 15 1452.
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By any estimation he was a man of inexhaustable talents. And the curious, seductive smile on Mona Lisa might be a perfect summation of Leonardo's somewhat mysterious and contoversial life. There are volumes written about the details of his life (check wikipedia), and so I will try to get between the lines with some completely unfounded speculation about the man.
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I am not a historian, or college professor whose job might be at risk. I'm not even getting advertising money for this blog. I don't have much to loose by anything I say. And that is the very point I will make about the fabled artist, inventor, scientist, entertainer, etc, etc, etc.
History shows that people with nothing to lose are sometimes the most creative. (A failed scientist working at a patent office dreamed up and published the theories of relativity.) Leonardo had neither position or possession to risk by his thoughts and actions.
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It is hard for us to understand in modern America how important a family name was in Leonardo's time, and he did not have that. He was born out of wedlock to the mistress of a middle class gentleman in the area of Vinci, Italy; hence the name Leonardo 'of' Vinci. Even later in life, his contemporaries sometimes refered to him as 'the bastard'.
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His tendancies for reckless bravery first appear while he is still an apprentice to the artist Verrocchio. While painting with his master, he began experimenting with new techniques. This practice would have been taboo, but because the techniques worked, his master advanced him. His penchant for experimenting with paints would cause most of his works to decay prematurely. 'The Last Supper' is nearly gone. At most, there are only 15 of his paintings that survive today.
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The Renaissance was an unusual time of discovery. The influencial people measured greatness by the pursuit of novelty science and philosophy. Leonardo's success in art brought him into the company of the powerful. He was obviously a very brilliant man, but to express new ideas and allow your mind to wander into unexplored places was still very dangerous. I'm sure he must have been a superior polititian, but he constantly risked humiliation every time he attached his name to some new idea. Once again, what did he have to lose? Even at the end of his life, he was living in the care of someone else's family power.
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He could have climbed socially by a stategic marriage, but in doing so he might have lost the position of someone on the edge. Sigmond Freud started a long line of suppositions about Leonardo's personal life, but there is always many factors that create one's path. By remaining outside the system of the day, he was given latitude to revel in his ideas .
He even seemed to tease the status-quo many times. He didn't finish most commissions and had to be badgered to finish his great work, 'The Last Supper'. At one point he struggled with the face of Judas, and threatened to make him in the likeness of the priest who pushed him to finish. I also believe that the omission of a wine chalis in 'The Last Supper' is more of comment of frustration or power as opposed to a diobolical plan suggested in the 'Di Vinci Code' book/movie. He cultivated his position as a brilliant outsider and then took every opportunity to irritate the mainstream. He was driven to be important, but did not want to be a part of the group that labeled him a bastard, which also cast an unfortunate shadow on the character of his own mother as well.
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I am sure Leonardo de Vinci had above average intelligence, but whatever fate is, it had a large part in the saga of his amazing creativity. Perhaps a group of people, less brave, helped him with some of the ideas, but he was the one bold enough to put his name to them and be recognized by the public.
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The Mona Lisa's smile is brave, almost brazen... with nothing to lose.
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