The Mona Lisa.With November/December's Instructor Masterpiece poster, introduce your students to perhaps the best-known painting in the world: Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa Mona Lisa La Gioconda, da Vinci’s enchanting portrait. [Ital. Art: Wallechinsky, 190] See : Beauty, Lasting Mona Lisa enigmatic smile beguiles and bewilders. [Ital. . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Meet the Artist Born in Italy in 1452, Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci (də vĭn`chē, Ital. lāōnär`dō dä vēn`chē), 1452–1519, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist, b. near Vinci, a hill village in Tuscany. was a painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, mathematician, and philosopher. He believed in the power of first-hand observation and kept many notebooks filled with detailed scientific and technical drawings, sketches, and notes written in a reverse script that could be read only by holding it up to a mirror! In order to accurately render the human figure in his paintings, da Vinci da Vinci Surgery A surgical robot for performing certain surgeries–eg, mitral valve repair and laparoscopic procedures–eg, cholecystectomy and gastric ulcer repair. See Laparoscopic surgery, Robotics, Surgical robot. dissected cadavers and studied muscles and bones. He also made studies of light and shadow to help make his paintings look three-dimensional. His reputation as a master brought him many commissions, but his most famous painting is La Gioconda La Gioconda can refer to:
Happy Birthday Mona! Da Vinci began the portrait of Mona Lisa 500 years ago in 1503, using oil paints on pinewood pine·wood n. 1. The wood of the pine tree. 2. A forest of pines. Often used in the plural. . Most people believe that a merchant named Francesco del Giocondo commissioned da Vinci to paint a portrait of his wife, but mystery ultimately surrounds the true identity of the painting's subject. Some think the work may be a portrait of da Vinci's mother, or even a disguised self-portrait of da Vinci himself. The artist worked on the painting for four years. Strangely, he did not deliver the painting to his patron, but kept it for himself, later selling the painting to the king of France Noun 1. King of France - the sovereign ruler of France king, male monarch, Rex - a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom in 1516. The Mona Lisa has traveled many places, including an unplanned trip back to Italy when it was stolen from Paris's Louvre Museum Louvre Museum National museum and art gallery of France, in Paris. It was built as a royal residence, begun under Francis I in 1546 on the site of a 12th-century fortress. in 1911. Today the famous smile hangs once more in the Louvre Louvre (l  `vrə), foremost French museum of art, located in Paris. The building was a royal fortress and palace built by Philip II in the late 12th cent. , where millions of people come to
guess its mystery.Art Activity: Mystery Portraits Discuss the painting's many mysteries with your class. What clues in the painting could reveal Mona Lisa's true identity? Visit www.monalisamania.com to uncover some interesting theories about the famous portrait. Then have your students paint each other's portraits. Ask them to create their own mystery stories by hiding visual clues in their paintings. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Song of the Sky Loom Oh our Mother the Earth oh our Father the Sky Your children are we with tired backs we bring you the gifts you love So weave for us a garment of brightness May the warp be the white light of morning May the weft be the red light of evening May the fringes be the falling rain May the border be the standing rainbow Weave for us this bright garment that we may walk where birds sing where grass is green Oh our Mother the Earth oh our Father the Sky --Traditional Native American verse, from the Tewa people of the Southwestern United States |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion