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High Renaissance · c. 1503
Leonardo da Vinci 1452–1519
The Louvre · Paris
Her smile shifts the longer you look — Leonardo's sfumato haze made this the most famous painting in the world.
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The world it was painted in, the life of the painter, and a close reading of the details. This film is free in Hear Art.
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Chapter 1 of 7
Florence, around fifteen oh three. Leonardo da Vinci begins a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a silk merchant. He never delivers it.
He carries it with him for the rest of his life, refining it for years, and it is still in his studio in France when he dies. A modest commission became the most famous painting on Earth — and the quietest revolution in the history of the portrait.
Where to see it
Paris
Room 711 · Salle des États · Level 1 · Denon wing
The Hear Art 3D museum guide walks you to it.
Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.
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