I'm focusing on the theme of Sprezzatura for my final project. Sprezzatura is concisely defined as the act of making difficult things look easy. The Mona Lisa is thought to have been commissioned in 1503 by Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Gioconda for his wife Lisa Gioconda so it could be placed in their new home as and to celebrate the birth of their second child (Zucker). Mona Lisa (1519) by Leonardo da Vinci
Although the Mona Lisa was painted over a decade before Baldassare Castiglione would coin the term Sprezzatura in The Book of the Courtier, this portrait is thought to be an example of Sprezzatura, in part because of the way da Vinci uses a technique called sfumato, which translates to vanished or evaporated. This created hardly visible transitions between light and shade, and sometimes between colors. Second, the realism of his painting is a result of Leonardo's diverse scientific observations. From the study of human anatomy, he developed a mathematical system for determining size in space, perspective that is incorporated in the way Mona Lisa's torso, head and eyes are each turned a little more toward the viewer. Da Vinci also observed differences between the subject and objects in the background and used aerial perspective to create the illusion of depth: the farther something is in the distance, the smaller the scale, the more muted the colors and the less detailed the outlines. (Mona Lisa). All the elements of this painting are a result of the painters great skills which were developed over time and required a lot of work, work that was then translated into the painting with impeccable delicacy and finesse. Reference Mona Lisa - Leonardo's Masterful Technique. www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/mona_lisa/mlevel_1/m3technique.html# :~: text=In%20 a%20break%20with%20the, colors%2C%20he%20blended%20everything%20%22witho ut. Zucker, Steven. » Leonardo, Mona Lisa. smarthistory.org/leonardo-mona-lisa.