The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-09-06
DISAPPEARANCE OF
RECALLS THEFT OF
leonardo's Painting Is Re-
garded as the Finest
In the World
BY JAMES A. EDGERToN.
N HE disappearance Of the ia
nous "Mona Lisa" Of Leonardo
da Vinci from the Louvre, at

da Vinci from the Louvre, at
Paris, is the latest nine days
wonder in the world of art. This great
painting, also known as "La Gio-
condo" has been pronounced by many
the finest in the world. 1t certainly
stands in a list Of the worlds half
dozen greatest paintings and in popu-
lar regard perhaps ranks second only
to the "Sistine Madonna" by Raphael.
Some think "The Last Supper" also
by Da Vinci, greater than Mona
Lisa" but this sort of comparison is
fruitless, as the two paintings are
quite different in subject and treat
ment Walter Pater pronounced la
Giocondo'' as "in the truest sense
Leonardo's masterpiece"
The painting is a portrait of Ma
donna Lisa del Giocondo, third wife
of Francesca del Giocondo of Flor
ence, both of whom would have been
forgotten centuries ago but for the
genius of Leonardo. 1t is said that
the painter worked at this master
piece four years and then pronounced
it unfinished. To keep the haunting
smile on the subjects face he had
music and testers in the studio. AS
we now know it the painting has lost
some of the exquisite lines and hues
it had on leaving Da Vincl's hand,
since it has faded through the cen
turies and has been retouched. Yet
even in this imperfect state it has
charmed the world.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452,
the natural son of Florentine notary
and a peasant woman. He was cele-
brated not only as painter, but as a
sculptor, architect, engineer and scien-
tist. He engaged in various engineer
ing and architectural works, divided
his time between Milan, Venice and
Florence and toward the end of his
life was attached to the court of the
king Of France, where he died. Out
side Of his many paintings he did
much in sculpture, little of which sur
wives. He also accomplished many
works in the line of engineering and
architecture, these being his chief vo-
cations. In science he was in advance
of his age, being especially versed in
temporary-and in some senses a COM
petitor-of Michelangelo and a teacher
of Raphael, Fra Bartolommeo and 9TH
ers almost as illustrious His schools
at Milan, Florence and elsewhere were
the beginning of a new era in Italian
art. He was great not only as pro-
ducer, but as an inspirer OF others. BY
many he is regarded as the most uni
versal genius of the renaissance period.
In person Leonardo was handsome,
with n fine face, great physical
strength and charm of manner. Among
his other accomplishments he was a
musician. His ''Mona Lisa" was paint
ed about 1906, when he was more than
fifty years old. 1t was bought by the
king of France and has since been the
property of the French nation and in
more recent years the pride and the
greatest ornament of the Louvre
where it has been admired by millions
from generation to generation.
Every one is familiar with the paint
ing or with prints of it, Perhaps more
copies, photographs, engravings and
other reproductions have been made
of this than of any other painting in
the world. One of the proofs of its
quality is that the artistic and popular
verdicts on 1t agree. Usually the COM
mon herd is enraptured with things
that the art critics pronounce daubs,
and the art critics are enchanted with
some impressioRistic thing that is a
blank to the man on the street, But
"Mona Lisa" is so supremely great
that it levels all ranks and compels
praise from artist and layman alike.
The face, with its dewy eyes and
faint smile, contains everything that
charms us in womanhood. 1t is spir-
itual, yet has touches of the earth
earthly" aluring and still elevated and
sweet. The charm is one that eludes
analysis, as is the case with all that
is finest not only in painting, music
and poetry, but in nature. The effect
is wonderfully heightened by an al.
most weird background of rocks and
streams. This and the sphinxlike ex-
preston of the face give mystical
element to the picture that has per-
haps proved its greatest charm. But
am not enough of a highbrow in art
to trust myself to describe it and re-
produce the estimate of Walter Pater
in one of the finest pieces of writing
in English literature. a-H
'We all know" he says, "the face
and hands of the figure, set in its mar
BILE chair in that cirque of fantastic
rocks, as In some faint light under
sea. Perhaps of all ancient pictures
time has chilled it least" 81
He then goes on to describe the
painting as a creation of the artists
brain and soul rather than a por-
trait of flesh and blood person. Its
infinite appeal is greater than could
have come from any physical likeness,
but rather arises from an indefinable
something not subject to decay, some
thing carrying breath from the eter-
nal country. To return to Pater;
The presence that thus rose SO strangely
beside the waters Is expressive of what
In the ways of a thousand years men had
l..