| Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci The Mona Lisa & You Do you actually like this painting? Love it? Hate it? Or are completely indifferent and can't see what the fuss is about? Forget for a moment that it is the most famous painting ever. Forget to the painter - the name, the association - just empty your mind and look at the work. Does it move you or leave you cold? Whatever your reaction will determine whether the painting is worthy. In your world. That is how art should be. Personal choice. IT SHOULD NOT be about what the critics say. Unless you're studying Leonardo and his world, you really don't need to listen to art critics. They kind of get in the way of art because they are trying to tell you, at times yell at you, what is good or bad, in their opinion. Remember, it's their opinion. All art can be good and all art can be bad. It's what moves you that counts. If the Mona Lisa moves you enough to want to know more about how it was created then by all means do so. Google is full of searches with almost identical results on this. You know, stuff like this: 'Leonardo was having a peanut butter sandwich and the protein from the peanut inspired him to replicate the beauty of peanut butter onto panel and he came up with the Mona Lisa. Indeed, subsequently it has been proven that peanut butter was the viagra of the Italian Renaissance. Another example of Leonardo being ahead of his time ... The Mona Lisa proved to be his last masterpiece and he became more commercial after this as proven by his role in Titanic". I say in jest, of course, but that is how the most of us take our history these days. Cold, staid facts or statements purporting to be facts. 'Leonardo had the Vitruvian Man tattooed across his stomach and chest, but decided not to have RENAISSANCE MAN tattooed in Times-New-Roman on his forehead due to being charged for each letter and going over budget...' etc. etc. Total rubbish but because you read it on the internet it must be true. A bit sad to convey history in this way if you think about it. Well, if you follow my advice why not drop me a line on what you think of the painting. Good or bad - just say it from the heart and I'll put your comments up below. We are conditioned these days to think of art in monetary value alone. This in the UK is no doubt due to awful programmes like The Antiques Roadshow which promote the idea that everything has a price and is just looking for astonishment really for viewing figures. Thankfully, the Mona Lisa is priceless and beyond the grasp of Fiona Bruce et al. Can you imagine it: Punter: 'We've had it in the family for generations. I wouldn't sell it as Aunty Agnes was so fond of it. She'd looked at it every day when spending a penny in the downstairs toilet. Oh, she'd loved her Mona Lisa in the morning and The Racing Post in the afternoon...Just curious about it, that's all.' Hey, I've just had a thought. Imagine Leonardo on a dating site. POF. He'd write something like: 'No offence but to save wasting time I am not interested in anyone thick, overweight or out of shape'. His inbox would be empty. Food for thought. Back to Gallery 2019: You can leave your comments on the Mona Lisa by e-mailing me and I'll put it up here within 24 hours. Only your first name will be displayed here and the date. Your e-mail address will not be displayed or used for anything else or sent on to any secondary parties. As soon as the e-mail is received I paste the comments here and delete the email. You can use my e-mail link by clicking here. Or copy and paste it into your e-mail browser to send it. It is: ihuppert5@aol.com Just don't be boring: there's plenty of other places for that. NO COMMENTS YET Book Must Read: |
