"MONA LISA: A Life Discovered," by Dianne Hales, Simon and Schuster, $28, 257 pages (nf)
Dianne Hales, journalist, author and a great lover of Italy, was surprised one day while visiting Florence to discover that the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous work of art was "una donna vera" — a real woman.
Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo lived in Florence five centuries ago, the wife of the wealthy merchant Francesco del Giocondo and the mother of six children. In the grand scale of things, she was a nobody who would have easily faded out of history if not for the genius who chose to paint her.
"Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered" was born from Hales' eager quest to discover just who Lisa Gherardini was, what her life would have been like, and why a man such as Leonardo da Vinci would've chosen to paint her and cherish her portrait for the rest of his life.
She soon found in Lisa a symbol of the everyday woman. She contrasts her simple, domestic life with that of the world-renowned artist who captured her smile.
Leonardo da Vinci spent his life wandering between cities, ultimately dying in France, far from home, with no family, having completed only a few of the brilliant projects he had begun.
Lisa Gherardini lived a life mostly defined first by her father and then by her husband. She saw the death of several of her children before her own, and she likely also witnessed much of the violent turbulence that took place in her hometown during her lifetime.
However, in her widowhood, she was allowed the liberty of choosing her home and her burial place, and she devoted the end of her days to her church and her family. Hales demonstrates an admiration for the woman's faith, determination and resilience.
"Mona Lisa" doesn't include any swearing or foul language. As part of the historical context, Hales takes a scholarly approach to the typical sex life of an upper-class Renaissance couple along with a discussion of homosexuality in Florence during Leonardo da Vinci's youth. There are also some gruesome details on how people were often tortured and murdered in that day.
It's easy to see that Hales comes to find something of herself in the life of this woman. She speculates that maybe we are all enchanted with her portrait because we "sense that Lisa is somehow like us. In that face, in those eyes, and especially in that smile, we see a reflection of secrets locked within our own souls."
This book shares the journey to unlock those secrets and to solve the mystery behind that enigmatic Mona Lisa smile.
Email: mgarrett3589@gmail.com
