: Just in time for the release of the film The Da Vinci
Code, the Portland Museum of Art is displaying its rarely
seen "Mona Lisa" painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. This
enigmatic work, officially titled "La Gioconda," is thought to be
either a preparatory study for the "Mona Lisa" by Da Vinci
himself or a copy painted by one of his followers shortly after
the creation of the original, which now resides in the Louvre
Museum in Paris. The painting is currently on view through the
summer months.
The painting was given to the Portland Museum of Art in 1983 by
Henry H. Reichhold, a summer resident of Prouts Neck, Maine, who
purchased the work in the 1960s after the death of its European
owner. Subsequently, "La Gioconda" was analyzed at the Straus
Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at Harvard
University. Conservators determined that the painting was
executed before 1510 - the original Mona Lisa was created between
1503 and 1507- but they were unable to confirm or refute Da
Vinci's hand in its creation. However, similarities are
remarkable, and the work contains the characteristics of a
left-handed brushstroke, consistent with Da Vinci's work as a
left-handed artist.
Unlike a forgery or counterfeit work, the museum's "Mona Lisa,"
on the basis of technical analyses, differs from the original in
size, composition of background landscape and, most notably, the
absence of the enigmatic smile - details that suggest an early
study rather than a simple reproduction. Regardless of the true
authorship of the painting, "La Gioconda" brings into sharp focus
the kinds of problems facing conservators and art historians
today, and it is a compelling work of undeniable artistic
interest on its own.
Numerous copies of the "Mona Lisa" exist. From the Sixteenth
Century through the late Nineteenth Century artists traditionally
copied acknowledged masterpieces in order to learn more about the
stylistic and compositional techniques of the great masters.
The last time the painting was on view at the museum was in early
2004, when it was displayed in conjunction with the lecture "The
Da Vinci Code Deciphered" by renaissance scholar Dr Jeannine
O'Grody. O'Grody discussed the "real" story about Leonardo da
Vinci's artwork while highlighting the fact and fiction presented
in Dan Brown's novel.
The Portland Museum of Art is at Seven Congress Square. For
information, 207-775-6148 or www.portlandmuseum.org.
