Who is Mona Lisa? | DW Documentary

it is the most famous most expensive and most mysterious painting in the world each year millions of people visit the portrait in the Louvre the Mona Lisa has remained a star among works of art for centuries because fanatics attempted to destroy the painting it can now only be admired from behind armored glass but what makes a Mona Lisa so special the small painting shows nothing more than a portrait of a woman or does it reveal something more [Music] it was painted by one of the greatest geniuses who ever left Leonardo da Vinci and with Mona Lisa he left behind more than just an image of a woman her gaze appears to wander off yet always meets the viewer [Music] she wears no jewellery her clothing is dark as if she were in mourning and yet she smiles mysteriously Leonardo didn't leave behind any sketches of the portrait no visible brushstrokes Mona Lisa appears to be made out of flesh and blood yet her biggest secret remains who was she whose portrait is Leonardo showing us [Music] to solve this puzzle the Louvre placed its most famous painting under scientific scrutiny using the most modern techniques the painting was examined using x-rays Raman spectroscopy ultraviolet and infrared pictures among other techniques to uncover its secrets [Music] the Masters painting technique was examined beyond the surface where Corrections made to the painting was anything over painted did Leonardo paint the piece in one session or did he work on it for decades these questions must be answered in order to resolve the most puzzling question of the more who is the woman behind the smiling yet melancholy face [Music] who was Leonardo's Mona Lisa or is this not a portrait but rather an imaginary image of an ideal beauty [Music] experts have been wondering this for centuries there seems to be proof of only two explanations but each cancels the other out documentation comes from two different chroniclers but these written records are not compatible with one another [Music] the most accepted theory is based on biographer Giorgio Vasari according to him the portrait depicts Lisa del Giocondo the wife of the Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo who commissioned the piece in 1503 this contradicts our notify the chronicler Antonio to be artists from 1517 in which Leonardo da Vinci claims to have been commissioned by Giuliano de Medici just like the two chroniclers contemporary Leonardo scholars also have divergent theories Giuseppe pa'lante an art historian from Florence believes the officially recognized theory that the painting depicts Lisa del Giocondo I believe that slayin Ardo actually painted Lisa Gherardini the wife of Francesco del Giocondo probably around 1503 and animal 18% to three Roman historian Roberta Perry considers a new and revolutionary theory in which the portrayed woman is an entirely different person I think the painting is connected with Ron Donnie and then it has nothing to do with Mona Lisa thank you be there for Mona Lisa the first clue leads to Florence the majority of the great Renaissance artists lived and worked here as did Leonardo da Vinci Giorgio Vasari also worked in Florence he chronicled the biographies of many Italian artists next day's work as an architect Vasari documented the biographies of great Italian artists today these make up one of the most important foundations of art history la vita de PUE HL NT hockey ttp torre escalatory italiani was first published in 1550 and revised in 1568 today the original manuscripts are housed in the effete C library most of the artists whose lives verse re chronicled were already dead at the time but Vasari researched very carefully so - with Leonardo da Vinci on just a few pages Vasari wrote down his whole life story in it he also mentions that Leonardo painted the portrait of Mona Lisa for Francesco del Giocondo her husband and it's in the possession of King Francis the first to France he labored on it for four years and ultimately left it unfinished these words gave the painting its name Mona Lisa who was this Mona Lisa of whom Vasari wrote and who was her husband Francesco del Giocondo Francesco was a silk merchant who had acquired some wealth but wasn't part of Florence's elite he was a nouveau riche businessman was it really possible that a renowned painter like Leonardo accepted a commission by an ordinary businessman or did Francesco del Giocondo and his wife climbed the ranks of society dr. Francesco del Giocondo Francesco del Giocondo was well-known in the city he wasn't just an ordinary merchant he was also a public and charismatic figure he live answer pública lizard ah queenie ELISA was very young and facade redefines her as very beautiful to see what I mean Dean Mary her husband also spoke very highly of her determined in his Testaments Francesco refers to her as a bona fides this is an unusual description for a woman Janie I have yet to find a similar description in other Testaments a bona fide a woman can signify a noblewoman with high principles who works hard and has personality in she become devaluated tossed o salty [Music] Lisa del Giocondo was Francesco's third wife [Music] the birth of their second child and move into a new home could have been the occasion for the commissioned portrait [Music] and yet up until then Leonardo only portrayed men and women of nobility these people were interesting to him a star such as himself could choose his own subjects why did he paint Lisa del Giocondo [Music] Leonardo returned to Florence around 1500 from Milan he was 48 years old Restless without family and didn't have any large Commission's on the horizon Leonardo wondered when Leonardo came to Florence he didn't have any commissions or work and we know that portraits are the bread and butter of painters that is to say they are the simplest commissions and also the best paid so it is easily possible that Francesco del Giocondo Commission's Leonardo to betray his wife but doubts arise the G Kondo family trade register resides in the lock Evo story code El Instituto de lino Tonti and it is the basis of their tax report Florence had a highly advanced tax system the so called catastro as part of this its citizens had to claim all of their incomes and expenditures in this trade register all movement of money and assets were meticulously recorded Vasari mentions that Leonardo received the Commission in 1503 so a record of the expensive portrait must certainly have been made [Music] but in 1503 there is no referenced the expense of a painting there is no record of a commission to Leonardo in the entire trade register there is also no mention of such a valuable painting in the inheritance playmate you can imagine how desperately I searched for clues of a commission or payments not even in the Testament is there mentioned that this painting existed I think Francesco would have certainly claimed it since it was a painting with arising and secured value the whole thing is incomprehensible ei Gugino Co bishop Francesca would have most likely shown the portrait by the famous painter publicly and would not have risked eventual tax evasion in Leonardo's records there is also no traces of a commission by francesco money apparently didn't change hands Francesco's testament is archived in Florence's arc Evo de staat oh they're in there is also no mention of the great masters valuable artwork Leonardo apparently never delivered the painting to Francesco Vasari writes about an incomplete portrait with a Mona Lisa in the Louvre however is completed down to the very last detail seguramente Louie Paris surely he accepted the Commission at a time in which he had no work he introduced himself to the merchant who wanted a painting of his wife and simply agreed then he painted only the head a flat dollar saw a taste that the interrupted the work for other commissions and left it unfinished never delivering the painting to the merchant not even the head there are no traces of this painting in Florence traces left by the merchant couple must be available in the archives in documents or Testaments yet this painting by Leonardo shows up with nowhere just a me if he had finished the painting and delivered it then a record within the family would exist a painting by a famous artist like Leonardo was a very valuable commodity testimony answer nella for me ever care to disappeared we know absolutely nothing about it s peridot known series as rudimental ending has it really been lost was the Mona Lisa as described by Vasari lost is the painting in the Louvre the different one [Music] much about Leonardo seems unexplainable today very few artists have captivated people's imaginations as he has one reason for this is that he started so many paintings that he never finished like that of Saint Jerome in the wilderness yet these works count among art history's most famous as with the adoration of the Magi Leonardo often lost interest in his paintings after he solved challenges of figuration and Composition finishing the pieces became too tedious this was also the case with the fresco for the council Hall of Palazzo Vecchio it was to become his largest work commissioned by the city government Leonardo chose the Battle of Anghiari as his motif Leonardo received the Commission in 1503 the same period during which he worked on Lisa del Giocondo portrait restless as he was Leonardo left even the biggest project that Florence commissioned incomplete is it plausible that he behaved similarly with Mona Lisa abandoning it only to finish it later motor be made they it is very likely that Leonardo puts the painting aside he didn't finish it and never delivered it it was most likely completed at a later time Caputo blase Z so I think that's this theory in which the painting was begun in 1503 and finished later is the most plausible and it's also the one I personally believe any wheel but it did I mean derivative you [Music] when did Leonardo finish the painting let's assume in old age long after he started it then Leonardo must have carried the painting with him throughout much of his life if there was such a time span between the start and the completion of the painting then we can determine that with today's modern methods and again modern technology has a go at the Mona Lisa the results show that the color pigments were applied without significant interruption using infrared technology historians searched for over painted areas or Corrections the genius Leonardo made hardly a single correction from the first brushstroke to the finished piece the only over painting occurred on Mona Lisa's left hand here leonardo corrected the gesture of her finger aside from that the painting was made in one session an unbelievable achievement by the master according to art historian Alexander Parekh these discoveries further confound the Mona Lisa theory the countersue hung the entire study confirms the absurdity of the identity of the louver painting or louver painting depicting Mona Lisa Mona Lisa it was determined that the painterly process was fairly continuous in continued little they're mostly armed he would have had to paint it in two completely separate stages would clearly be identified with today's methods and tools the face stolen for album at tagong salon chav the landscape would have had to have been new since Vasari didn't mention one at all the great biographer airs in another aspect as well in describing the Mona Lisa he talks about her eyelashes which could be rendered only by the most delicate of brushes on her brows you witnessed them at their fullest and Sparsit and how they emerge from the pores of her skin and arch as naturally as one can only imagine [Music] but the Mona Lisa that hangs in the Louvre today has neither eyelashes nor I browse these are also not detectable using relief imaging Vasari one of the main attests us to the Mona Lisa theory never saw the painting himself Vasari no never fault discreetly Vasari didn't have any written sources his biography is based on mere oral accounts that circulated in Florence e lui a script or a be over a fee yet trail a path did i bill graffia the you got that which took this means he wrote part of the history of true calmness portrait the Mona Lisa whole based on such oral accounts the fast from person to person the best own imbecile Louie himself never saw the painter he had this he describes what he invented and that does it [Music] but from where does the painting in the Louvre stem are there two portraits one of them lost this new idea takes us to the emboss on the Loire France [Music] Leonardo died here in 1519 at the advanced age of 67 the chapel in which he was entombed is located directly next to the king's chateau [Music] Leonardo came to ham Waze by invitation of the French King Francis the fast by them the artistic genius had already achieved cult status [Music] Leonardo lived in a manor next to the Chateau called clue Lucy an incident occurred in this small French manner that steers the Mona Lisa investigation in an entirely new and revolutionary direction leonardo brought three paintings with him the one that today is referred to as the Mona Lisa painting gives some drama Baptist and that arson town he stayed in this Manor inclusive they also had his studio [Music] the chronicler Antonio to be artists witnessed Cardinal Ludwig of arrogance visit with Leonardo in Clos lucé a on October the 10th 1517 he relates the three paintings he saw at the aging masters one of the works is of a certain Florentine lady painted from life that was made in honor of the passing of Giuliano de Medici another one is of the young Saint Joan the Baptist the third of Madonna with her child seated on st. Anna's lap the latter was the most perfect of them all today the painting of st. Anna with Maria and baby Jesus on her lap is housed in the Louvre so too is the painting that be artists described of Saint John the Baptist is the painting that was made for Giuliano de Medici also in the Louvre is it the Mona Lisa acuerdo the painting was commissioned in Rome by Giuliano de Medici as a result of an affair he had with a woman from the OB know Giuliano de Medici figure brandonna also called Adam at your be no but she figure better than [Music] a new name services Medici the ruling family of Florence this name is most associated with the Renaissance period they were rich scrupulous obsessed with power and patrons of the Arts Giuliano de Medici was one of the two brothers that lived during da Vinci's time [Music] he was a womanizer and a squanderer he was charismatic had a powerful name and an influential brother [Music] his brother lived in Rome his name was Giovanni de'medici and he had high aspirations later he became Cardinal and finally Pope as Pope Leo the tenth he made history as a sensitive art patron as well as a scrupulous and powerful politician he strengthened the clergies power and influence over the battling Italian city-states and had a weakness for the beautiful things in life [Music] [Music] Juliano his extravagant brother arrived in Urbino where he was a guest at the palazzo do Carla here he had several chambers known as the magnificence quarter Giuliano a pair of boy Delano was a poet he had been raised by his father Lorenzo who was a great writer he wrote poetry and was interested in women he hadn't the slightest interest in politics no nerve even is really stressful Leone Fred elevation Graham politically bleona's brother it was a great the exact opposite he was wrong about everything and yet his great passion was politics we do complemented evasion I was an avid hunter the only PABA prema to talk like a certain a politician horrible idiot Giovanni de Medici Pope Leo the tenth took care of his brother Giuliano throughout his life he also financed his extravagant lifestyle Giuliano had countless affairs but one of these flames had serious consequences Urbino in the marker region the palazzo de carla looms over the town here the tragedy involving Giuliano de Medici that would eventually lead to the Mona Lisa took place well afford the pure that they a the most important source is a document that is housed in the library of the University of Urbino this document is a page in a book a foundling disposed records were found in the university library of Urbino regarding a certain hipolito de Medici hippolyta would later become cardinal but was poisoned at the age of 24 but he was born an orphan how did he acquire the name Medici who were his parents further records document his birth how he became an orphan and later a Medici the name of his mother also appears at Jiffy co-brand Danny a young woman from Urbino not much is known about Pacifica brand Danny she was a guest to the pelota to Carla by invitation of Giuliano de Medici it is unclear if she offered him her labors of love if he seduced her or as recorded by one of the documents was raped [Music] in any case she spent a night with Julianna and this likely involuntarily but how should she have opposed the rich ruler she was plagued with severe remorse after her affair with Giuliano [Music] some sources state that she was married at the time brand Dani fell into a crisis that deepened when she found out that she was with child [Music] a child out of wedlock from a brief encounter in the court of Urbino then she drew up a terrible plan she confided in her friend and midwife that she didn't want the child and that she could not take the disgrace the Midwife should kill the newborn in case Prandini dies in childbirth brand Danny did in fact die of pure Pro fever but the Midwife didn't take the newborns life on April the 19th 1511 the night before Easter Sunday she dropped the child off from the steps of the santa chiara church in her OB note the baby wrapped in a white sheet was Giuliana's son he had a coin on him as a token of his heritage in the absence of a legitimate heir Giuliano de Medici recognized him as his son he named him Ippolito Giuliano left will be now with his son ippolito a move to his brother the Pope in Rome Leonardo da Vinci resided in the chambers of the Vatican where he worked for the Medicis during this time but commissions from the Pope were sparse here Giuliano must have given him the commission of which Leonardo rights include Lucy Leonardo was the painter painting to comfort little Eppolito he badly he said to Leonardo paint me a picture of a mother that I can give to my son is an image of his mother doe Larry I'm your feet look painted as you imagine it how a portrait of a mother should look like Leonardo painted the painting that we call Mona Lisa today El Dorado le bateau it must have been a great challenge to paint an image of a mother for a Paulito [Music] since he suffered a similar fate Hippolyta [Music] he too was an illegitimate child who was recognized by his father his mother didn't die in childbirth she was his father's maid and he probably used her dependency on him for labors of love as had Juliana with his mistress Brand Ani [Music] a pollito and Leonardo shared a similar fate and this inspired Leonardo to paint a painting that upheld the memory of a mother the painting should lend comfort to young Hippolyta who himself never saw his mother shiteru he undoubtedly painted the image so he develops the portraits out of his imaginations we cooked Leonardo Leonardo didn't need a model he was an illegitimate child himself and could easily relate to the feelings of such a child so in this kindest Giuliano de Medici must have known this has Leonardo's friend [Music] Leonardo took himself back to the time of his childhood he was born in 1452 on a farm his birth house still stands today it's located in midst of an olive grove near the small Tuscan village of Vinci the great master got his name from the small Italian village [Music] a church with a side chapel and a Baptistery stands in the center of town [Music] leonardo was baptized here a memorial stone commemorates that illegitimate leonardo was recognized as a son by his father Piero da Vinci [Music] it was always puzzling why Leonardo portrayed the wife of a sub merchant in dark clothing her silk merchant is proud of his colorful fabrics her clothes on the other hand recall morning and reverie if Leonardo painted the image of a woman that had passed away then the dark colors make sense a smile also becomes explainable since it is directed at her own child [Music] Giuliano de Medici died before the painting was completed leonardo took it with him to France where Debbie artists saw it and took note of it in his travelogue my right is the painting in the Louvre er is certainly not identical to the portrait that Leonardo painted of Mona Lisa the real Mona Lisa Lisa del Giocondo the soap merchants wife Amal thought but where is the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo as described by Vasari a trace leads us to Joan Giacomo Capote called Sally who is said to have had a relationship with the master [Music] Sal I was a rapscallion but Leonardo liked him anyway he accompanied the master through his life on many travels and was his studio assistant before Arbor Leonardo several months or weeks before Leonardo left for France in 1516 Sal I returned to his hometown of Manasa lay my London sand I might also get soaked by this on the occasion he must have received several paintings from Leonardo the common huh and so I remotely presumably in complete works' Kamil the hidden files inside the painting appears in his estate that is referred to as La Gioconda bond of Quattro dicto logic andhe a painting called gioconda this is how it appears in his estate an incomplete work of the great Leonardo da Vinci was very valuable to Sal I solo at this theoretically Sal I could have completed it right he was a painter trained by Leonardo many paintings are attributed to him he could have also sold them under Leonardo's name for a lot of money Fuko from Conan but that never happened Sal I died under mysterious circumstances just a few years after Leonardo's own death the incomplete portrait of Lisa del Giocondo was in Sally's estate along with Leonardo's painting later and the Swan both of these paintings were lost in all likelihood it is the imaginary ideal image of a mother that hangs in the Louvre commissioned by Giuliano de Medici we must say goodbye to the Mona Lisa [Music] [Music] it is the most famous painting in the world none other has been studied more thoroughly or more often now the Mona Lisa has revealed its true face the same face was found over and over again beneath each of the coats of paint the face with its loving gaze in its comforting smile the image of a mother [Music]

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Keywords: Documentary, Documentaries, documentaries, DW documentary, full documentary, DW, documentary 2020, documentary, Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, art, painting, Italy, Florence, Paris, Louvre, research, Renaissance, mona lisa, the mona lisa, mona lisa painting, leonardo da vinci, da vinci, artist

Id: e5F1v_osAV0

Length: 42min 26sec (2546 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 04 2020