TheMonaLisa,byLeonardoDaVinciisnotonlyoneofthemostimportantpaintingsevercreated,itwasoneofthemostimportanttoLeonardohimself,aworkhespentmorethanfouryearsonandcarriedwithhimeverywherehewentfortheremainderofhislife.TheImportanceoftheMonaLisatoLeonardohascausedgreatdealsofspeculationastowhyhemighthavepainteditandwhatthepaintingmightbedepicting.

　　Thisfigureofawoman,dressedintheFlorentinefashionofherdayandseatedinavisionary,mountainouslandscape,isaremarkableinstanceofLeonardo'ssfumatotechniqueofsoft,heavilyshadedmodeling.TheMonaLisa'senigmaticexpression,whichseemsbothalluringandaloof,hasgiventheportraituniversalfame.

　　Fromthebeginningitwasgreatlyadmiredandmuchcopied,anditcametobeconsideredtheprototypeoftheRenaissanceportrait.Itbecameevenmorefamousin1911,whenitwasstolenfromtheSalonCarréintheLouvre,beingrediscoveredinahotelinFlorencetwoyearslater.Itisdifficulttodiscusssuchaworkbrieflybecauseofthecomplexstylisticmotifswhicharepartofit.Intheessay``Ontheperfectbeautyofawoman'',bythe16th-centurywriterFirenzuola,welearnthattheslightopeningofthelipsatthecornersofthemouthwasconsideredinthatperiodasignofelegance.ThusMonaLisahasthatslightsmilewhichentersintothegentle,delicateatmospherepervadingthewholepainting.Toachievethiseffect,Leonardousesthesfumatotechnique,agradualdissolvingoftheformsthemselves,continuousinteractionbetweenlightandshadeandanuncertainsenseofthetimeofday.