Was Mona Lisa a Real Person?
The Mona Lisa was originally identified as Lisa Gherardini as early as the mid 16th century when Vasari put together his biography of Leonardo Da Vinci and described the Mona Lisa. Everyone was intrigued to know “who was the model” for the Mona Lisa and in Gherardini, she was believed to be found.
Born in 1479, Lisa Gherardini was raised in the Villa Vignamaggio in Tuscany, where she lived until she was eventually married at the age of 16. Her new husband, Francesco del Giocondo took her as his third wife in 1495 and very soon the two started their family. Giocondo was a silk merchant in Florence and it was there that the two most likely met Leonardo and the inklings of the Mona Lisa were first concocted.
Who Was Mona Lisa?
Little is known about the woman known as Lisa Gherardini and until recently, it was not even verifiable that she ever existed outside of Vasari’s biography. In a recent book published by Guseppe Pallanti titled Mona Lisa: Real Woman, the Italian historian outlined and gathered evidence that supported much of what Vasari wrote almost 500 years ago.
His research suggests that the origins of the working relationship were born when Leonardo’s father likely commissioned the painting. Pallanti suggests that he was great friends with del Giocondo and that it was highly likely that he might have done such a thing as he had done in the past with Adoration of the Magi.
Gherardini herself would have been 24 years old in 1503 when Leonardo started work on the painting, coinciding with the birth of her second son. The evidence in the painting itself suggests that the model was possibly pregnant. Pallanti went on to gather evidence that reveals the actual burial place and death certificate for Gherardini in Sant’Orsola, a convent in Florence. Deceased on July 15, 1542 she was 63 years old and had raised five children with del Giocondo in her lifetime, whom she outlived.
If Not Gherardini, Then Who is the Model for the Mona Lisa?
The original source of Vasari has long been disputed as he lived and wrote after Leonardo’s death and after the painting had been removed from Italy. For that reason, numerous other theories have been postulated to explain who the model might be.
One such theory is that Leonardo himself is the subject of the painting. This theory has been presented using existing self-portraits of the artist as supporting evidence. Unfortunately, the supporting evidence is still rather thin as others still will argue that Leonardo often used the same facial structures in his painting and a few scholars have even argued that the purported self-portrait might actually be a portrait of Leonardo’s mother.
An interesting idea is that although the painting is of Lisa Gherardini, the inspiration for the face comes from Leonardo’s assistant, Gian Giacomo Caprotti, also known as Salai.
In a portrait of Da Vinci’s famous assistant, Salai, possibly painted by Da Vinci himself, Salai’s features are portrayed as being very feminine and childish. Da Vinci was not alone in his view that men who should be considered beautiful and youthful should lack the usual characteristics that we would associate with maturity and masculinity, this view was held almost universally by the Renaissance painters, and is much in evidence in the numerous paintings and drawings of angels that were produced during this time. A charcoal sketch of an angel by Da Vinci, probably done as a preliminary sketch for portrait of St. John Baptist, is believed to have been modelled by Leonardo’s “Little Devil” Salai. The title of the drawing “Angel Incarnate” would appeal to Da Vinci’s sense of irony. Indeed the illusion of the angel appearing sexless is only broken by the addition of an erect penis. In this view the Mona Lisa represents, through his assistant’s appearance, Da Vinci’s idea of beauty; a blurring of the masculine and feminine.
It should be also noted that because of the likeness between the portrait of St. John the Baptist and the Mona Lisa, it is often hailed as proof that either the model for the Mona Lisa is a man, or that Leonardo wanted to promote the sacred feminine through St. John being painted as a woman.
Other theories include the possibility of different models altogether, including Isabella of Aragon or Constanza d’Avalos. Both women were at one time acquaintances of Leonardo and had commissions with him. Isabella in particular was very persistent to have Leonardo complete her commission, and of the two sketches he did of her, Da Vinci kept one copy to himself, refusing to return it despite her pleas. Additionally, a painting of Isabella by Raphael greatly resembles the Mona Lisa. While theories abound though, it is still largely believed that the true face of the Mona Lisa is Lisa Gherardini.
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