A Different Look at the Lady in the Louvre
The Mona Lisa has been credited as the most famous piece of art. How can this be accepted carte blanche? One must stop and consider this assertion. How has this one portrait been given this kind of notoriety? If a piece of art has been set apart by so many over a span of 519 years (1503 the piece was finished), can any other work be as well-known or appreciated? Would there be any way of matching the reputation it has gained? This has been a question I have had regarding the Mona Lisa which is on display in Paris, France in the Louvre Museum.
The artist, Leonardo Da Vinci, did amazing work but how can this portrait of an unknown woman gain uncommon popularity? Isn’t beauty in the eye of the beholder? Wouldn’t it be responsible to consider the works of other artists like Monet or Van Gogh? What about artists from other countries or art from a different time? I have enjoyed going to various museums: The Met in New York and the San Francisco DeYoung Museum and The Art Institute in Chicago. These have displayed well known pieces art from famous artists. I have wrestled with my thoughts regarding what has made the Mona Lisa famous and how this art has retained its heralded place in the art world.
In reading the article Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding, “threshold concepts” has helped me look at the Mona Lisa with various lens. Meyers describes a threshold concept as a “portal,” an opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something.” (1) I have challenged myself to consider what might make a piece of art famous and my own perception of the Mona Lisa.
Acknowledging my “troublesome knowledge” was apart of my thinking process. (2) How many times have I looked at the Mona Lisa with a photo shopped face covering the actual image? I believe I have looked at a defaced Mona Lisa too many times and this has been apart of my own devaluation of the art. The Mona Lisa has become like pop art where modern interpretations have been widely accepted. For instance, the Mona Lisa dabbing, the Mona Lisa winking, and the Mona Lisa reinvented by different artists. I can understand how the popularity of the Mona Lisa has made her subject to misuse which has made me reconsider how famous she truly is. I’m left thinking: will the real Mona Lisa stand up?
In this past week, I was able to visit the Louvre in Paris and stand in front of the Mona Lisa. It was interesting to experience the Mona Lisa in person. I wouldn’t call my visit a pilgrimage, but I was eager to learn more about this piece of art. My learning became “integrative” where what I knew was “exposed by previously hidden interrelatedness of something.” (3) The following were key ingredients in seeing the Mona Lisa differently.
- I love a good docent. The tour guide who led us through the Louvre did a remarkable job and I was able to see the Mona Lisa through the lens of a French woman who majored in art history.
- I grew in my appreciation of Leonardo Di Vinci. He was asked by the king to have this piece of art, but Leonardo refused. Who would tell a king no? The artist was unwilling to part with this work.
- The woman painted was a commoner but all art before this portrait had been religious art. People had not contracted for personal portraits to be made of themselves. This portrait began a new option for people to be personally remembered by having a portrait rendered of themselves.
- Landscape had not been used in art before the Mona Lisa. After the Mona Lisa, landscape was incorporated in art. Leonardo was a renaissance man, creating art in innovative ways.
- Leonardo spent the span of 15 years to complete the Mona Lisa. This wasn’t the only art he worked on during this time, but he returned to it time and time again
As I have integrated this knowledge, I have been persuaded to see the Mona Lisa in a different way. I might compare it to a traveler taking an airplane, allowing a person a new experience in the world. My trip to Paris, France and visiting the Louvre, standing in front of the Mona Lisa has substantiated my thinking that this truly is a masterpiece. There is good reason for the Mona Lisa to be recognized as the most famous piece of art.
(1) Jan F. Meyer and Ray Lands, eds., Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge. (New York, Routledge, 2006), pg. 3
(2) p.4
(3) pg. 7
About the Author
Kristy Newport
6 responses to “A Different Look at the Lady in the Louvre”
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Kristy,
Traveling with you on your discovery of the original Mona Lisa was fascinating. Thank you for taking me along on the journey.
For those unable to travel to the Louvre in Paris and experience the visual breakthrough as you did with the Mona Lisa, how might you guide someone through the threshold portal so they, too, can see the real Mona Lisa?
The two pictures side by side were ‘pièce de résistance.’
In response to this question:
For those unable to travel to the Louvre in Paris and experience the visual breakthrough as you did with the Mona Lisa, how might you guide someone through the threshold portal so they, too, can see the real Mona Lisa?
I would encourage someone interested in this piece of art to consider the artist who painted it. I believe the most impacting aspects of the Mona Lisa came in gaining new knowledge regarding Leonardo Da Vinci. Understanding the history of the piece and setting aside new renderings of Mona Lisa helped me see her differently.
I am overjoyed to know that I am God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:10. It is my hope that others might see God as being my Creator and knowing that His purposes are what gives me value. It is good to withhold judgment and seek to understand the value God places on His creation.
Kristy,
I really appreciate your heart and that you celebrate the success of others with them. I appreciate how you brought into what we have been learning into modern art. With being a pastor with many daughters, I have at times struggled with modern culture. The contrast between the pictures of Mona Lisa helps keep things in perspectives that things do change, but if we really take time to look, we still see the beauty in things. Well done!
Kristy,
What a great comparison. It reminds me of visiting the Picasso museum in Barcelona. I have never been a Picasso fan. I did not understand why something that a kindergartner could draw would gain so much appreciation. It was only after visiting the museum and seeing Picasso’s early work that I began to appreciate him as an artist. It was not a lack of skill that led him to his later works, but a choice, a statement, similar to DaVinci with the Mona Lisa. While I still do not like most of Picasso’s work, my impression of him has been transformed. I wonder how art could be used to transform out thinking, to help people experience that “aha” moment. For me, it was learning more about Picasso and his artistic choices, for you it was learning about Renaissance history. What other areas could art impact the way we learn?
Becca, Thank you for sharing about your experience in going to Barcelona and viewing Picasso art. I appreciate the question you asked: “What other areas could art impact the way we learn?” There is much that can be said in answering this question. I do believe that there are people who prefer learning visually. I believe art is one avenue in being able to see and experience something. This is valuable. I am grateful for the artist’s who have sculpted and painted different people. How else would we be able to know them? I am glad we are able to have some idea of what people looked like even though they lived in another day and age.
I also know the impact art has had on my daughter. She is a gifted artist and she has found peace and calm in doing artwork. I am grateful that she knows that this can be a “go to” activity to find peace and enjoyment.
Thank you for your question!
Art is one of my loves! Really anything with some history, but especially art. There are so many facets to art that every peace can create a rabbit hole of learning.
I love the Mona Lisa is just called that for kicks and giggles…. Jane Doe doesn’t really have the same ring to it, does it?
I also love the theory that the painting is not finished because she lacks Eye brows. The thought on this is that his hand went partially paralyzed in 1517 before he could finish.
I’d love to make all of the paintings names, and info a threshold concept for me by my favorites: Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh. What a fun party trick that would be.