Page 114 - 100 Events That Made History

The
Mona An enigmatic smile that
lit up the RENAISSANCE

The world’s most famous painting
is a portrait of a young woman
Lisa
with just a hint of a smile, but it
represented a revolution in art.

By the way…
You can go and see my
Mona Lisa at the Louvre
Museum in Paris. But, be
ready for crowds—lots of
people want a look.

Like smoke
Leonardo da Vinci, the
Italian artist, scientist,
and all-around genius,
finished his great
work, the Mona Lisa,
around 1517. The oil
painting took more than
14 years to create, no
doubt a result of the
“SFUMATO” technique
Leonardo used, where the
colors carefully blend in
to each other almost like
smoke. The painting was
so important to him that
in the last years of his
life he took it everywhere
he went.

What came before…

The Renaissance in arts The striking dome of
and learning was made Florence Cathedral,
possible by the money designed by architect
of rich patrons like FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI,
LORENZO DE MEDICI (left) was one of the
and his family, who wonders of the early
were rich bankers in Renaissance. It was
the city of Florence. completed in 1436.
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