Cultural Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cultural Activity - Essay Example Each painting had a certain charm all its own. Perhaps one of the most famous paintings of all time was the Mona Lisa. Currently, the Mona Lisa is available for viewing at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Interestingly enough, there are many copies of the Mona Lisa in art galleries all over the world, as was the one that this writer viewed. According to Leonardo da Vinci’s Life (2012), â€Å"The mastery of the painting lies in its subtle detail, including the faint smile, and Mona Lisas distinctive gaze. The work [might] have been commissioned by†¦Francesco del Giocondo, who hired Leonardo to paint [his wife’s portrait], and this is why The Mona Lisa is sometimes referred to as La Gioconda† (pgh. 1). Of course, as has been mentioned before, it is Mona Lisa’s slight yet very distinct smile which has drawn people near and far to see her famous face. Since many artists lived off of their commissions from paintings, Da Vinci most likely wanted to ensure that he painted a very nice piece for Francesco del Giocondo—because creating a great painting, versus just a â€Å"good† one, might be the difference between him getting paid the full sum he was owed by Del Giocondo, who most likely commissioned this one particular painting. The interesting link that this painting has to today is that it was rumored that another painting was actually found hidden under the painting of the Mona Lisa. This was just found recently, and it is believed that this other painting was also done by Da Vinci. Of course, new discoveries are happening all the time in the art world—with many more surprises to come in the future as we all know. There is no limit as to how many surprises might be in the rafters, just waiting to be discovered. Perhaps we will realize that there are many more surprises hidden within and outside of famous commissioned Renaissance paintings. Arguably, one of