It seems we keep hearing news about Leonardo Di Vinci’s monumental Mona Lisa painting on a regular basis as the mysteries of the work keep haunting art lovers and general researchers. More recently, we’ve been hearing everything from unearthing the remains of Lisa del Giocondo to clinch her as the true Mona Lisa, all the way to the possibility that Di Vinci made an experimental 3D copy of Mona Lisa long before 3D technology was officially created. It’s the Lisa del Giocondo character alone, though, that seems to have the most fascination and endless mystery about who she really was.
Because of that mystery, you have to wonder why Hollywood hasn’t made a movie about her considering there’s some basic information available. How she became the subject for the Mona Lisa painting is also one that’s filled with speculation and perhaps one that’s much more banal than any mysterious reason. In the realm of movies, this can be expanded into as much territory as needed. The only issue that might have kept Hollywood from going there is finding an actress physically representing Lisa del Giocondo, if indeed she really was the subject for Mona Lisa.
What Actress Could Play Lisa del Giocondo?
Perhaps it’s impossible to find any actress who could resemble del Giocondo to a tee since the image of Mona Lisa is one that seems to compete with even the most beautiful actresses in the world. However, you can certainly see the resemblance in some actresses out there. Everyone from Mia Wasikowska to Drew Barrymore to Natalie Portman have somewhat similar features that could be made more into the likeness with makeup. And there’s many other up and coming actresses who also could convincingly play del Giocondo as a major acting stepping stone.
If Hollywood still has resistance to this, there’s always the option to make her look slightly like the Mona Lisa to prolong the mystery whether she was really the one or not. Knowing about del Giocondo’s life provides a little bit of background in understanding what might have been the motivation for her posing for the painting and what was going on under the veneer of her mystic smile.
A Young Marriage to a Merchant
The story goes that del Giocondo might have been only 15 when she married a modestly successful cloth and silk merchant. It’s where her Giocondo name came from, and her husband might have had a wealthy family that gave him some interesting connections. While little is known about the details, scholars think that her husband’s family were directly connected to prestigious art patrons who were able to get him linked up with Leonardo Da Vinci to paint his wife’s portrait.
At the time, it’s said Lisa del Giocondo and her husband were moving into a new home that possibly became the celebratory purpose behind why the portrait was done. She’d also had kids by this time, with one that had died. So while there’s always the immediate assumption of the Mona Lisa being an amorous single woman, she was already a mother of five children.
It’s what happened while posing for the portrait that anybody can speculate on. That’s where the crux of an indie movie could come from in why it took Da Vinci so long to complete it. With speculation that Da Vinci was gay, a movie depicting whether he and Lisa del Giocondo had any sort of cross-obsession could make for an interesting story. Their sense of communication must have been more than fascinating considering the love and attention to detail Da Vinci put into the painting.
Even if Da Vinci ultimately was a gay man, his understanding of a woman’s facial features still perplexes artists to this day. He seemed to understand the nuance of beauty on a level that transcends even what the straightest male today seems to comprehend. And above all, Lisa del Giocondo had no idea how iconic that portrait was going to be someday since it didn’t become that way until years after both she and Da Vinci had died.
The ordinariness of her middle-class life contrasted with being connected to the greatest portrait every done would be a terrific showcase for an actress who feels comfortable in period movies. We’d finally see a live-action representation of an era and artistic movement that hasn’t been intelligently conveyed in movies due to perhaps seeming inexpressible.
References:
http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mona-lisa-%E2%80%93-portrait-lisa-gherardini-wife-francesco-del-giocondo
