This defining characteristic has made the Mona Lisa very popular, that coupled with the fact that Leonardo de Vinci  himself painted this masterpiece, will make this work of art shine for many decades to come.  This is without a doubt one of the most known pieces of art.  Even today their are references to the Mona Lisa in popular culture, such as in the recent movie Angels and Demons.  But I mean, really what is the big deal?  Why is this painting, a seemingly regular painting, admittedly made by de Vinci, so popular even to this day? 

There are two parts of the painting that stand out from all the other paintings of that era.  First, there is the eerie way that the Mona Lisa is always staring at you, no matter the viewing angle.  Second is the fact that she is smiling, the kind of half-smile that makes you wonder what she is thinking.

Were the eyes a fluke?  Why didn’t Leonardo de Vinci employ this technique in other paintings?  Many experts point to the separation of the eyes or the placement of the pupils.  This is by far the most unusual and well-known part of the Mona Lisa.

The smile is legendary for eliciting all kinds of emotions from the viewers.  Recently CNN posted a paper describing the results of an team of experts using emotion detection software on the painting.  What is really interesting is the variety of emotions.  The emotion turns out to be 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, and 2 percent angry.  One can find this article in the British weekly “New Scientist.”  Besides the variety of emotions it was rather unusual to find a portrait before the 1930’s where someone was smiling. 

Besides all these bizarre findings, it is the final piece that is the most interesting. ”The smile is not always there,” is what many say when looking at the Mona Lisa.  Recently a researcher, Dr. Margaret Livingstone, a Harvard neuroscientist concluded that smile comes and goes because of the way that the human eye works.  Livingstone, who is a expert in on visual processing, says the following “The human eye has two distinct regions for seeing the world.  The central area, called the fovea, is where people see colors, read fine print, pick out details. The peripheral area, surrounding the fovea, is where people see black and white, motion and shadows.”  This essentially means that the smile is not really there as this is simply a result of the shadows from the cheekbones.  What is the final and most interesting mystery of all, is the fact that Leonardo de Vinci would have had to paint the mouth without looking at it to make this effect possible.  Since this seems nigh impossible, the mystery will continue throughout the ages, for the puzzlement and enjoyment of many generations to come.

To art enthusiasts everywhere,

Six Star