“Unlocking the Enigma: Discover the Hidden Mysteries Behind the Mona Lisa’s Smile”
But was she an idealised woman? Or perhaps a very material man? According to French researcher Sophie Herfort the portrait sitter was the artist known as SalaÃ, Leonardo’s favourite pupil and alleged lover. Herfort states the master had wished to depict his assistant in women’s clothing, but had later made his face more feminine to evade censorship. This may explain why Leonardo carried the painting with him to France, rather than handing it over to the Giocondos.
Needless to say, these alternative hypotheses carry little to no evidence.
That said, neither does the original claim by Vasari according to an argument made in the paper ‘Leonardo, Mona Lisa and La Gioconda. Reviewing the Evidence’ written in 2004 by Jack M. Greenstein, Professor and Chair of the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego. In it, Greenstein notes that ‘Nothing in the archives nor in Leonardo’s voluminous writings conclusively connects Leonardo with the Giocondo family.’
He also points out that all critics who commented on the painting in the 16th and 17th centuries ‘Did not think that the title ‘La Gioconda’ referred to the surname of the sitter.’
We should point out that the word ‘Gioconda’ in Italian may be translated as ‘playful’. Hence, Greenstein argues that the title of the portrait is not the sitter’s name, rather a descriptor of her merry demeanour. The author of the paper then posits that Vasari may have actually never met the Giocondos, nor even seen the portrait itself. Greenstein mentions an incident, recorded by Vasari himself, in which the Italian writer admired two copies of Leonardo’s works exhibited in 1566. He described them as ‘A young St. John the Baptist, very well imitated’ And a portrait ‘In which is a woman who smiles.’
