Hermitage Mona Lisa is a painting on canvas, which was made by an unknown painter in the mid-16th century and is located in the
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
of
Saint Peterburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. It was transferred from the ''Antikvariat All-Union Association'' and entered the Hermitage in 1931.
Description
This
portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...
is an image of
Lisa Gherardini, best known as ''Mona Lisa'' or ''Gioconda'', and is a clear copy of the original Gioconda. Although it is notably different from the authentic
Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...
of the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, the good workmanship, legibility and expressiveness emanating from the work have been pointed out. The execution of the portrait is presumably of Nordic Europe derivation, in particular German-Flemish. The face of the model is different, being younger than the version of
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
, but also the rear panorama presents two columns, which are absent in the original. Many people call this picture ''Gioconda with columns''. Two columns are found in other copies such as ''Gioconda of Oslo'' in
National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, ''Gioconda of Baltimore'' in
Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...
and ''Gioconda of Reynolds'' in
Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Analysis
Scientific analysis was carried out on the canvas and
baryte
Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...
, called
barium sulphate
Barium sulfate (or sulphate) is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ba SO4. It is a white crystalline solid that is odorless and insoluble in water. It occurs as the mineral barite, which is the main commercial source of barium a ...
in
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
, was found. It is a mineral used for the preparation of the support, especially in the years ranging from 1620 to 1680, but when this substance was used, Leonardo had been dead for more than a century.
[{{Cite web, url=https://www.arteworld.it/analisi-la-gioconda-di-leonardo-da-vinci/, title=La Gioconda (o Monna Lisa) di Leonardo da Vinci: analisi, date=February 16, 2016]
See also
*
Mona Lisa (Prado)
The Prado ''Mona Lisa'' is a painting by the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci and depicts the same subject and composition as Leonardo's better known ''Mona Lisa'' at the Louvre, Paris. The Prado ''Mona Lisa'' has been in the collection of the Mus ...
*
Isleworth Mona Lisa
The ''Isleworth Mona Lisa'' is an early sixteenth-century oil on canvas painting depicting the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's ''Mona Lisa'', though with the subject ( Lisa del Giocondo) depicted as being a younger age. The painting is thou ...
*
Gioconda Torlonia
*
Two-Mona Lisa theory
*
Mona Lisa replicas and reinterpretations
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Mona Lisa'' is one of the most recognizable and famous works of art in the world, and also one of the most replicated and reinterpreted. ''Mona Lisa'' replicas were already being painted during Leonardo's lifetime by his own ...
Notes
Mona Lisa