The dark, little-known life of Mona Lisa in real life

The portrait of Mona Lisa is not only a representative work of the life of Leonardo da Vinci, but also a legendary masterpiece of the history of painting. After hundreds of years, the ambiguous smile on the Mona Lisa's lips is still discussed and analyzed by posterity. However, not everyone knows about the real life outside the painting of this Italian lady.

Sad marriage

The model of the painting Mona Lisa was Lisa Gherardini , later changed to Lisa del Giocondo after her husband's last name. She was born on June 15, 1479 in Florence, Italy, the eldest child of a noble family but gradually lost power and wealth.

At that time, young women were often married off early to older men. In 1495, at the age of 16, Lisa was married to Francesco del Giocondo - a wealthy merchant 30 years old. Full moon girl Lisa Gherardini thanks to this marriage, she has been elevated in status, starting the life of an upper-class woman but encountering many sad events.

Mona Lisa painting. (Photo: IT)

After getting married, she quickly became pregnant and gave birth to 6 children within 10 years. Among them, only 4 children lived to adulthood. Lisa's second daughter, Piera, died when she was 2 years old, and another child died shortly after birth.

The most scandalous information in Lisa's family is about her husband's "hobby" of trading and raising slaves. For generations, the Francesco family had a tradition of doing this sinful work. In the book Mona Lisa: The People and The Painting (roughly translated: The Mona Lisa: People and Paintings), two authors Martin Kemp and Giuseppe Pallanti describe: "Since childhood, Francesco has lived with the female slaves were bought by his father, and after his father's death, it was his responsibility to buy new slaves. Sometimes he would buy more slaves than needed" .

Historians also give information that the marriage of Lisa and her husband was not so happy. Typically, Lisa was sexually harassed and flirted by two aristocratic men friends of her husband. Lisa tried her best to refuse them. As for Francesco, instead of getting angry at the two men who intended to take over his wife, he feared that Lisa's refusal would adversely affect their relationship. Because these two are very powerful, after the controversy, Francesco went to their home to affirm her support and assure that the relationship between the two sides remained friendly. Francesco's weakness and meanness was mocked by the opponent.

Author Martin Kemp also portrays Lisa as a woman controlled by her husband, like many women at the time. Her husband's wealth kept Lisa locked in "an impressive wardrobe and pile of clothes ", although this cannot be seen in the picture of her.

The 3D model of Lisa was reconstructed by the Louvre museum.

The relationship with Leonardo da Vinci and the masterpiece painting

It is not clear how the artist Leonardo da Vinci contacted Lisa, but there is a connection between them: Leonardo's father is a lawyer and Lisa's husband is a client of his. There are also many studies that show that Lisa's family is the neighbor who lives in the same area as the artist's father. In 1503, the artist began painting a portrait of a 24-year-old woman that would become the most famous masterpiece of his career.

Artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Most likely Francesco was the one who hired Leonardo da Vinci - who at the time was still an unknown artist to paint portraits for his wife. Like many wealthy families in Florence, every time the family has a big event, Lisa and her husband invite artists to paint commemorative portraits. In 1503 when Lisa was pregnant with her third child and had just moved into a new home, the family invited Leonardo da Vinci to paint a commemorative portrait.

The Mona Lisa was then painted for 16 years, from when Lisa was a young lady until she entered middle age. And this masterpiece of painting was never actually completed, as it was left unfinished in 1519, when Da Vinci died. He also never gave the painting to a client, but brought it to France in 1517.

In her old years, Lisa lived in a convent. She died on July 14, 1542, at the age of 63. When both the artist and the model had passed away, the unfinished Mona Lisa portrait at that time had no reputation and was unknown to anyone. Only a few centuries later, Lisa - an ordinary noblewoman among millions of women of the 16th century, suddenly became famous.

In 1550, somehow the portrait of the Mona Lisa entered the collection of paintings of King Francis I in France. It has been on display in the Louvre several times. In 1800, Napoleon showed that he liked this painting so much that he brought it to hang in his bedroom. He returned it to the museum four years later.

As time passed, rumors about the beauty of the painting spread and the mystery of Mona Lisa's smile made people wonder and ponder. Mona Lisa's smile has captivated millions of people around the world, but no one will ever understand what the secret behind that smile is.

The painting Mona Lisa is currently owned by the French Government, on display at the Louvre

Today, housed in bulletproof glass in a solemn position on the Louvre's wall, the Mona Lisa is the world's most valuable painting. Her mysterious smile attracts millions of visitors to the museum every year. According to statistics, up to 80% of visitors visit this museum every year just to see the smile of Mona Lisa.