Representations of Art Works the Mona Lisa as a Case Study
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Transcript of Representations of Art Works the Mona Lisa as a Case Study
Knowledge Organization Louiza PatsisDr. Richard Smiraglia December 2004DIS 810
Representations of Art Works: The Mona Lisa as a Case Study
Abstract
Much research has been done on the categorization of art works, but not on the
categorization of representations of art works. The Mona Lisa, painted around 1503 by
Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most famous paintings in the world, and is a good
example of an art work with many representations. A case study of the Mona Lisa is
used to find out the types of representations of the Mona Lisa, and what natural groupings
of these representations exist. The aim of this empirical study is to add to the new theory
of the work by developing a taxonomy of representations that can aid in developing
similar taxonomies of other works of art. This taxonomy will be useful to librarians for
cataloguing representations of the Mona Lisa, and would lead to effective information
retrieval by art expert and average users.
1. Introduction and Background
A vast array of representations of some art works exist in art libraries and
museums today, especially in the modern digital age. Each year, the amount of
information in the world increases, especially after the advent of the Internet. The growth
of representations of art work is no exception. Many works are communicated through
art, and contain much information about culture, times and humanity. They are of
interest to people around the world. Discovering what representations of works of fine
art exist is thus important, and can lead to improved information retrieval.
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The Mona Lisa was composed of oil on panel on poplar wood panel. It is 77cm
X 53 cm (30 X 20 7/8 in). As McMullen (1977, 29-30) wrote, various sources cite
different years for the painting of the work, ranging between 1503 and 1515. The
original is in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, and is the only instantiation of the
painting. The painting has inspired stories and myths on who the sitter in the Mona Lisa
was. Copies, photographs, critiques, books, movies and even chocolates in several
languages on or about this famous image have been produced since then.
McMullen (1977, 40) wrote that the Mona Lisa is a painting about the third wife
of merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo de Zanobi del Giocondo, Lisa di Antonio Mari di
Noldo Gherardini, who was born in 1479. Gould (1975, 110) wrote that this what most
people still believe; that is why the painting is called La Gioconda. Stites (1970, 329-331)
wrote that some people think the painting is of Isabella d’Este, daughter of Duke and
Duchess of Ferrara. Accordign to Stites (1970, 333), Da Vinci turned down offers by the
Pope and others to work on paintings, but did not turn down painting the Mona Lisa,
which he worked on for three years. He carried it with him everywhere, even to his
retreat in Ambroise, France. He never said that he had finished it.
There is one instantiation of the Mona Lisa. Smiraglia (2001, 167) wrote that an
instantiation is “a realization of a work that takes physical form in a document”, or a
manifestation of a work. This is the immutable original, the progenitor in the Louvre in
Paris. The instantiation is unique in ideational or semantic content (see section 2), and in
physical characteristics. Leonardo da Vinci did not paint more than one Mona Lisa.
Even if a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci “copied” the painting, it would not be an
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exact copy or instantiation of the original. Representations include paintings by
contemporaries of da Vinci, paintings by subsequent painters that added their
interpretation to the work, and photographs. At the International Society for Knowledge
Organization conference in 2004, Smiraglia presented a meta-theory of “works”, where
the evolution, derivation and mutation of ideational content varies across time, culture,
linguistic boundaries and canonicity. Smiraglia (2004) conducted a study on Etruscan
artifacts to demonstrate the inherence of the work in non-documentary artifacts, and
chose eight artifacts, intending find their representations. Smiraglia (2004, 311) wrote
that representations are infinitely mutable. The representations in the books found are
copies of such paintings or photographs and are thus second or third generation
representations.
A user might want to find a representation of the original, or they might want to
find an X-ray of the painting, or the Andy Warhol mutation of the painting. Or they
might want a description in a catalog of exactly what type of representation they have
found. If the library catalog is a bibliographic tool, it will assist the user in finding the
edition that he or she wants. The first step is categorization of representations of the art
work.
1.1 The Myth of the Mona Lisa
A myth has surrounded the Mona Lisa since it was first painted. The Mona Lisa
has come to mean different things to different people and cultures throughout time – from
the wife of Francesco del Giocondo to Leonardo da Vinci painted as a woman, to a
woman who holds the knowledge and mystery of all of life, to Mary Magdelena, possible
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wife of Jesus Christ in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Some believe that it the painting is
a self-portrait. According to McMullen (1977, 84) This belief may have been influenced
by rumor that da Vinci was a homosexual, and by the androgynous figures in his other
works such as The Last Supper. Some people believe that the sitter is a young man in
women’s clothes, perhaps because several figures in da Vinci’s works were androgynous.
In the twentieth century, some believed that the Mona Lisa is part of da Vinci’s religious
works. Costume analogies can be made between the Mona Lisa and his depictions of the
Virgin Mary, Apostles and angels. What adds to the mystery of the Mona Lisa is that it is
unsigned and undated. There are no traces of commission or records of payment. Part of
this myth has had to do with the myth around Leonardo da Vinci, who was considered a
new Pythagoras by people in his time. (McMullen 1977, 12) Although he was considered
a genius by some, and royals and clerics welcomed him into their homes, he had some
disadvantages. Da Vinci was left-handed which was almost like being cursed at his time,
and he was the out-of-wedlock son of Caterina and Ser Piero da Vinci. (McMullen 1977,
15)
A myth has surrounded the smile. Does she know a secret that we do not know?
Was she a saint? Some viewers would think that the smile is self-satisfied, while other
viewers may think that it is provocative. At the same time, according to McMullen
(1977, 80), it was customary for ladies of that time to lift the left side of their mouth in a
smile, and not to laugh, which was considered low-class. The mystery surrounding the
Mona Lisa led Clark (1961, 117) to write that the Mona Lisa is “one of those works of art
must be re-interpreted by each generation.” He wrote that artists prior to this painting did
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not depict the people in their portraits with a soul, unless they used gestures to show the
soul.
Many painters tried to produce copies of the Mona Lisa, and others reinterpreted
it in their paintings. About twenty years after the painting of the Mona Lisa, the “Flemish
Gioconda” appeared. (McMullen 1977, 144) Through the 1600s and early 1700s, people
were enthralled by the Mona Lisa. During the latter part of the eighteenth century, the
Mona Lisa was relatively unnoticed. This was partly because French monarchs had kept
the painting in out-of-the-way places like the storerooms of the Direction des Bâtiments,
equivalent to modern ministry of fine arts. In 1800 the Mona Lisa was listed as hanging
in Bonaparte’s bedroom, and in 1804 the painting was taken to the Louvre. (McMullen
1977, 161) Here the painting became more popular than ever. Romanticism and
Romantic movements such as Neo-Gothicism, Aestheticism, Decadence and Symbolism
emerged. McMullen (1977, 163 and 168) wrote that the lady in the Mona Lisa was often
regarded as a femme fatale, and, at the same time, gifted painters and literati depicted the
lady in the Mona Lisa as a saintly, mysterious and erotic figure. The mystique of the
painting grew.
Art movements such as Dadaism and Surrealism also presented a less idealized
view of the Mona Lisa. The painting was stolen in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia, who
wanted it to be in Italy. The theft shows the symbolic importance of the art work. The
painting was displayed in various places in Italy before being returned to France on
January 4, 1914. (McMullen 1977, 205) When it was returned, it inspired more awe. But
many people started being tired of the following of the Mona Lisa, and began to satirize
it. This attitude to the work is found in the many cartoon mutations found in this study.
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An example is Dali as Mona Lisa by Philip Halsman (McMullen 1977, 220 image 131).
Modernists thought that the Mona Lisa was irrelevant to their work. According to della
Chiesa (1967, 105), with the advent of Pop Art, many protested against the Mona Lisa, as
it symbolized academic museum culture and beauty.
Other people were still keeping the myth going. Through all of the cultural
interpretations and art history periods, the Mona Lisa is still a popular art work that
inspires the production of many derivations and mutations. McMullen (1977, 242) wrote
that the Mona Lisa, as opposed to other art works, was most popular because of “sheer
availability for meaning, of the general, uncommitted sign that invites the viewer-reader
to discover for himself, perhaps invent, exactly what is signified”. The painting is still
being interpreted.
2. Literature Review
Smiraglia (2001) wrote about the history of the concept of “a work” since the
Bodleian library in 1674. Since the earliest libraries, one author sometimes produced
more than one edition of a book. It is important to define what a work is in order to keep
an organized account of material produced from one primary source, including editions,
abridgements, commentary and more. The interest in a work, before the term was coined
in knowledge organization, was for the purpose of cataloguing material by one author.
Between 1994 and 1995, Yee published four articles about what a work is. Yee
wrote in “What is a Work? Part I: The User and the Objects of the Catalog”.
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From the earliest libraries, there was concern about how to record and classify several
versions of one book, commentary on a book, or a book written by an anonymous author.
Panizzi called for displaying all the “works” of an author [artist], including editions of a
book, under a uniform original title, regardless of a change of title. (Yee 1994c, 11)
Cataloguing was more difficult with anonymous works or works where an author had a
pseudonym. Jewett went further. He listed editions of a work under the name of an
author that had a pseudonym (if the author was found). He called for a translation of a
work to go under its original title. Cutter’s rules made the objects of the catalog explicit
and brought together all editions of a work, whether entered under author or title.
Yee (1994c, 10 and 13) wrote that the first Anglo-American code in 1908 did not
define a work, and left out the objects of the catalog, dropped the rules for arrangement
that had called for the gathering and careful organization of all editions of a work entered
under the author, and dropped the rules for entering translations of modern anonymous
works under their original titles. Works do not need to have an author. Smiraglia (2001,
28) wrote that the AACR2 often used the terms “work” and “item” interchangeably.
These rules were in effect for about 50 years. Lubetzky in the 1950s wrote the
Code of Cataloguing Rules, in which he wrote the importance of collocating all editions
of a work, including works published in manifestations with different titles. He saw the
importance of the user being able to retrieve a particular edition of a work. At the
International Conference on Cataloguing Principles in Paris in 1961, the first formal
definition of a work was produced: “1. work: Any expression of thought in language or
symbols or other medium for record and communication; 2. version: One of several
intellectual forms taken by the same work. (These may be an original text and its
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translation, or various texts in one language based on the same original work.); and 3.
adaptation: A work re-written or presented in another intellectual form to serve a
different purpose from the original version, or converted into a different literary form.”
(Smiraglia 2001, 24-25)
In 1968 Wilson recognized that a work is a group or family of texts with one
original ancestor. He wrote about the dichotomy between a work and the item, and about
a family of texts with a common progenitor. He also proposed two domains of
bibliographic control: descriptive power and exploitative power. Descriptive control
exists in cataloguing, classification and indexing. Wilson wrote that users need
exploitative control, which is an evaluative or selecting function. Understanding the
concept of a work, and creating taxonomies of representations of works, can lead to better
library catalogs, and thus exploitative power.
Carpenter (1981, 118-119) distinguished between the ideational and semantic
content for a work. Writing about books, he called the subject matter of a text ideational
content and the set of linguistic strings expression the text, the semantic content.
Carpenter used “ideational content” to refer to the intellectual or artistic content of a
work. In the case of the Mona Lisa, this would be the idea of a lady sitting and smiling.
The semantic content of the work for the Mona Lisa is the material of the work, in this
case the oil paint on poplar wood panel, as the text is the semantic content of a book.
What constitutes the ideational content of the Mona Lisa is subjective. The
painting is obviously about a woman sitting in front of a mirror, with crossed arms. She
is smiling and is dressed in a veil and dress. The background outside is of a mountainous
scene with streams and a bridge, and no people. People throughout history have guessed
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at why the lady smiles. McMullen (1977, 165) wrote that some people believed that da
Vinci kept musicians and jesters in the room while he worked on the painting, to keep the
lady amused. Gould (1975, 113) wrote that some people have interpreted her smile and
gaze as “regal relaxation” that expressed superb confidence and tranquility. Some
twentieth century artists believe that several sitters sat for the painting. (McMullen 1977,
84) To add to this mystery, the hair and costume of the Mona Lisa seem to be deliberately
neutralized so as to imply no paritcular time or place. Some people believe that the
sitter is a young man in women’s clothes. Perhaps an apprentice sat for the painting, as
was cusotmary, since women were usually absent in workshops. (McMullen 1977, 85)
The ideational content differs according to viewers, culture and time, and the
interpretation of what is depicted in the painting and what this means. Myths
surrounding the Mona Lisa increased the perceptions of ideational content through
culture and time, and the mysterious nature of the painting itself led to varying
perceptions. The ideational content is also the foggy, mysterious background, painted by
the da Vinci technique sfumato, where nature not depicted identically to what it is, but
viewers are deceived that it is depicted identically.
The semantic content of the Mona Lisa is the material of the work, in this case the
oil paint on poplar wood panel. Rules for pictorial material were developed in the 1950s
at the Library of Congress. Since then, a change in medium, which would be the
semantic content of a painting, with a different artist producing the work, signifies a new
work. Photography has been considered the same work as the work reproduced.
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2.1 Definitions of Works Since 1990
Yee (1994b) examined differences in manifestations and near-equivalents
regarding moving-image materials. A manifestation is a version or edition of a work that
differs significantly from another version or edition. A near-equivalent is a work that is a
copy of the manifestation that differs from other copies “in ways that do not significantly
affect the intellectual or artistic content”. (Yee 1994b, 227) Issues dealt with in this paper
assisted in this study, in determining whether a piece of art is a mutation or a derivation
(Section 5.1), and whether some mutations are so mutated as to warrant a different work.
A work of art originally conveys the meaning of the artist.
Yee (1994a, 227) distinguished between a manifestation and a near-equivalent. It
is pertinent to this study because it is similar to the difference between a derivation and a
mutation, although representations of the Mona Lisa were not categorized into
manifestations or near – equivalents. Yee (1994a, 252 and 1994b, 368) proposed that a
manifestation results when the continuity of a work (such as the visual, audio or textual
aspect), differs from that of the original work. The intellectual or artistic content changes
significantly. This is so when the ideational or semantic content changes from the
original work as in a mutation. A version or edition of a manifestation differs
significantly from another version or edition. A revised revision of a book can be a
manifestation. Yee (1994a, 248) wrote three ways that a film work can be a true
manifestation: 1. the film is edited to change continuity; 2. new material is appended to
the work; and 3. changes to the soundtrack or subtitles can be carried out by identifiable
subsidiary authors, the cast can change entirely, and differences in soundtrack can occur.
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A near equivalent is a copy of a manifestation of a work that differs from other copies in
ways that are not significantly different in intellectual or artistic content. Yee (1994a,
369) determined that the length in film is the primary indicator of a copy being a
manifestation, as opposed to a near-equivalent. Title frame indicators on which
cataloguers relied were not reliable to test if a copy was a manifestation or a near-
equivalent.
Yee (1994d, 21) defined a work as a “product of intellectual or artistic activity of
a person or persons or of a named or unnamed group expressed in a particular way.” In
the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) of 1998, the
following grouping of documentary entities was suggested: works, expressions,
manifestations and items. (IFLA website) A work is an intellectual or artistic creation.
The expression is the intellectual or artistic realization of the work. A manifestation
embodies the expression of a work. An item embodied a manifestation. Smiraglia (2001,
48) wrote that the IFLA report was a milestone in treating works in catalogs by defining
them in concrete terms and providing an entity-relationship schema for their
incorporation into catalogs.
The idea of painting the Mona Lisa was the work. Its expressions could have been
various sketches or studies that Leonardo da Vinci composed before the final product:
studies of the hands, background and other parts of the painting. The manifestation of the
painting was how he chose to finally express his intellectual and artistic ideas, and the
item is the physical embodiment of this – the painting in the Louvre in Paris.
Tillett (1991, 156) wrote about seven types of bibliographic relationships:
equivalence; derivative; descriptive; whole-part or part-whole; accompanying; sequential;
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and shared characteristic relationships. Smiraglia (2001, 51 and 130) studied derivative
relationships and came up with the following derivative relationships of works: a.
derivations, including successive and simultaneous derivations, amplifications and
extractions; and b. mutations, including translations, adaptation and performance.
Smiraglia (2001, 166-168) wrote that derivations are “instantiations of a work that retain
some ideational content from the progenitor but have significantly different semantic
content”, and that mutations are “instantiations of a work that have changed ideational or
semantic content”.
Svenonius (2000, 36) defined a work as “a set or family of documents in which
each document embodies essentially the same information or shares essentially the same
intellectual or artistic content.” She derived the term “superwork” for such bibliographic
families as Hamlet by Shakespeare. She used an edition for a particular manifestation of
a work. It is a collocating device, under which works related to a common progenitor can
be grouped. The Mona Lisa can be considered a superwork, because of all of its various
representations throughout time. Smiraglia (2001, 151) defined work as “a signifying
concrete set of ideational conceptions realized through semantic or symbolic expression”.
Smiraglia (2001, 565) wrote that works are communication vehicles across
cultures and times, and that, in the postmodern era, the concept of a work has evolved to
a group of instantiations with a collaborative social role, and that a work is the product of
intellectual activity across culture and time. Smiraglia (2001, 58-59) wrote that their
taxonomy and subsequent cataloguing for information retrieval is essential for the
dissemination of knowledge.
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Eggert (1994, 75) wrote that the usual assumption is that the viewer plays no role
the painting but only reacts to it. But the reality is that a viewer interprets what an art
work is, and collective interpretations of the majority of art experts and viewers change
throughout cultures and time. Eggert (1994, 76) wrote that the work of art comes into
being with each new viewing, and incorporate the reactions of those who encountered
them. This is true with each derivation and mutation of the art work as well. The
mutations of the Mona Lisa over time, for instance, will show different art movements
and cultural aspects of time and place. These affected how the painting was interpreted.
The painting itself was an influential force in different art movements.
Smiraglia (2001, 65) wrote that the core literature or canon “functions to preserve
and disseminate the parameters of a culture by inculcating cultural values through the
information conveyed as a whole and in each of the works that comprise it.” The
canonicity of a popular work such as the Mona Lisa includes the academic canon where
scholars, art historians and painters study the work, and the popular canon, where
products, restaurants and the like have developed from the lure of the work. This,
together with the age of the Mona Lisa, ensures that many representations will exist.
Relations between works such as the Mona Lisa in a canon and between canons affect the
amount and types of derivations and mutations of a work. Culture, commerce and
technology affect the representations of a work.
3.0 Research Questions and Methodology
Research questions to be answered in this study are:
What types of representations of the Mona Lisa exist?
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What natural groupings of Mona Lisa representations exist?
What constitutes a new work?
What can these groupings tell us about the cultural influence on
representations of an art work?
The terms "Leonardo da Vinci" were searched as subject in the catalog of the
Bobst Library, New York University. A total of 401 records were found. Books with call
numbers between ND623.A5 1938 and ND623.L53Z83 were located, to make the sample
a manageable size for this study. These books were about Leonardo da Vinci, and took
up the space of three and half book shelves. Representations of the Mona Lisa from these
books were photocopied. These photocopies were second version representations, if
they were copies of photographs of the progenitor, or third version representations, if
they were copies of photographs of amplifications or mutations of the progenitor. A total
of 131 representations were photocopied. Some representations were found in more than
one source book (See Appendix I for a list of source books). Representations were
identified as mutations or derivations, as per the theory of the work (Smiraglia, 2001). A
taxonomy of the representations was constructed, and an analysis of the representations
was conducted.
4.0 Results
With all of the myth and popularity of the work, many representations exist, as is
evidenced from the 111 distinct representations obtained from the sample of 20 books.
(Some of these representations appeared more than once. Counting all of them, the total
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number of representations found is 131. This was noted in Appendix II.) While,
ideational content did not vary much in derivations, as was expected, it varied a great
deal from the progenitor to mutations, and among mutations. Most of the representations
found in the books studied did not have a changed semantic content. Sometimes, the type
of paint used was not described in the books. No sculpture representations were found.
All of the representations found were copies of photographs, or second and third version
representations. The semantic content of the representations that were photographed and
copied to book form was considered in the taxonomy.
Appendix II is composed of tables of representations found, categorized under
type of representation. An “*” indicates that a representation can belong to more than
one category. That representation is listed in all of the appropriate tables. “NA” signifies
that the artist or date of production is not available. The taxonomy reflects the natural
groupings of representations found among the source books. Some proposed sections of
the taxonomy, such as “Both” for color and black and white in one representation, and
“Impressionism”, were not found in the representations studied, but are anticipated to be
likely. Some representations might constitute new works. That is discussed in Section
5.2. The cultural and time influences on the interpretations of the Mona Lisa, and thus on
the types of representations found, are apparent, and are discussed in Section 5.1.2.
The most common type of derivation was an extraction. A total of 24 extractions
were found. A total of 16 subsequent representations and four amplifications were found.
The most common type of mutation was “cartoon”, with 34 different representations
found. Three were each found in two different source books. This was a total of six
representations. The image was counted as a cartoon once. The next most common
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mutation was “embedded”, with 9 representations found. Following that in order of most
to least found are: nude renderings(9); sketches (6); “copies” by contemporaries of da
Vinci (5); photographic abstractions (3); photographic negative and computerized (2
each); and amplified mutation, study and radiography (1 each).
The following is the proposed taxonomy, based on the representations found:
4.1 Proposed Taxonomy of the Representations of the Mona Lisa
Taxonomy of an Art Work
Derivations: Painting with slightly changed or similar ideational content and semantic
content
Subsequent representations: Published copies of photographs of the Mona
Lisa: in paper, manuscripts, books
-Color
-Black and white
Amplification: art work (painting, photograph, sculpture, etc.) with more
than one representation of the progenitor
-Color
-Black and white
-Both
Extraction: art work with a portion of the progenitor, such as art work
featuring the eyes, lips, face, or part of the background of the Mona Lisa
-Color
-Black and white
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-Both
Mutations: Painting by artists with changed ideational or semantic content or
both
- Attempts to recreate the Mona Lisa:
-contemporary to Leonardo da Vinci
-1600s
-1700s
-1800s
-1900s
-Surrealism
-Modern Art
-Color
-Black and white
-Both
- Changed ideational content on purpose
-contemporary to Leonardo da Vinci
-1600s
-1700s
-1800s
-1900s
-Surrealism
-Modern Art
-Postmodern
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-Color
-Black and white
-Both
Nude renderings of the art work
-Color
-Black and white
-Both
Cartoon* renderings of the art work
-political
-Color
-Black and white
-Both
Radiography of the Mona Lisa
Sketches of the art work
Studies of the art work (can include lines of symmetry)
-Color
-Black and white
-Both
Embedded: art work with the image of part or the whole of the image of
the painting of the Mona Lisa inside it
-Color
-Black and white
-Both
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*a drawing intended as satire, caricature, or humor (Merriam Webster online)
Photographic Negative
Photographic abstraction- the use of photography to produce an abstract
representation
Computerized edition: a computer generated edition of the image, or part
of the image
5.0 Discussion
The two large categories of the taxonomy, derivation and mutation, were taken
from Smiraglia (2001, 154). The representations were first divided into these the two
groups derivations and mutations for clarity in categorization. Successive and
simultaneous derivations were not found. Da Vinci did not paint more than one exact
Mona Lisa. Derivation here was defined as subsequent representations (photographs or
copies of the Mona Lisa), extractions of the Mona Lisa, or amplifications of the Mona
Lisa. Extractions were representations of part of the painting. Amplifications were
representations where all or part of the painting were shown. Ideational content was
slightly changed since a photograph or paper image will not yield the same feel as the
progenitor. The semantic content, which was photographic film, did change. (The second
level representations of the photographs were the representations in the books, and the
semantic content was the ink, paper, and other material that made up the image.) The
biggest difference between a derivation and a mutation in this study is that the ideational
content of a derivation changes slightly from the progenitor, as opposed to a mutation,
where there is a greater change in ideational content, even if viewed subjectively.
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Mutations were representations where the ideational or semantic content, or both,
were changed. Productions by artists contemporary to da Vinci trying to copy the Mona
Lisa or producing pieces with significantly changed ideational content were grouped
under “mutations”. None of these were exact copies of the progenitor. No attempts to
copy the Mona Lisa were found that were produced by painters that lived after da Vinci’s
time. Further studies will probably reveal that artists in different time periods tried to
copy the progenitor, with ideational content staying the same and semantic content
staying the same or differing. These “copies” would still be considered mutations, since
they cannot be exactly the same as the progenitor. One limitation is that the type of paint
or panel used was not evident in the source books for all representations, and many of the
productions were by anonymous artists and had no title. It was thus difficult to find the
exact semantic content through print and online research.
A right handed image was found and was given a category of its own; more such
representations might be found upon further research. Da Vinci was left handed, and
researchers may want to study the work painted by a right-handed man. An amplified
mutation was a representation where one or more mutated versions of the Mona Lisa
were present. Many nude renderings of the painting, as early as the early 1600s were
found. The amount of such representations found seemed appropriate for a new category.
Several embedded mutations were found. In these mutations, whole or part of the Mona
Lisa was “inside” other art productions. Sketches are representations where the
progenitor is copied or studied with pencil, ink, or marker. Further research may reveal
more of these, such as those by famous artists starting a career while studying a great
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painting like the Mona Lisa, for instance. Studies are representations with notes by the
artist to study proportion. Sketches can be studies and studies can be sketches.
Radiographic representations are representations where an X-ray or other radiographic
image was taken of the Mona Lisa. Photographic negatives are negative photographic
representations. These are not like the photographs under derivation, since the ideational
content or idea is changed to an abstract, scientific one, rather than an idea of a lady with
a mysterious smile. The semantic content is highly changed. A photographic abstraction
is a representation that is a photograph of an abstraction of the progenitor. The
abstraction is achieved through mirrors or optical instruments. A scientific mutation is a
mutation produced through scientific equipment, other than photography or computers.
A computerized mutation is a mutation produced through computer equipment.
Technology made it possible for more mutations to arise. The last three categories make
the grouping of some of these mutations possible.
5.1 Derivations and Mutations Found
5.1.1 Derivations
Several subsequent representations were found. Examples are the color
representation in Vallentin (1938, 354) and the black and white representation in Bodmer
(1931, 36). An example of an amplification is Andy Warhol’s Thirty Are Better Than
One. (McMullen 1977, image 129) This can also be categorized as a cartoon since
Warhol was poking fun at the prestige of the Mona Lisa. Examples of extractions are
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extractions of the eyes, lips, face, and background, such as the extraction of mouth in
image 195 in McMullen (1977, 195) and the color image of the hands in Reti (1974, 95).
5.1.2 Mutations
Copies of artists can be divided into attempts to recreate the Mona Lisa and
“abstractions” where the ideational content is changed on purpose. The latter can be
divided by art movement or time period. Examples of copies from contemporaries of da
Vinci are the Italian copy, image 83 of McMullen (1977), and the Spanish copy, image
84 in McMullen (1977). Other copies had ideational content changed to different degrees
on purpose. One such copy is that by an artist contemporary to da Vinci is a Florentine
portrait by Raphael, dated as early as 1504 (McMullen 1977, image 15). This is a sketch
of a young lady in a similar pose as that in the Mona Lisa. Raphael produced other
copies: Maddelena Doni (image 86, McMullen 1977) and La Muta (image 87,
McMullen 1977)
An amplified mutation is The Occasion Makes the Gioconda by Rene Bertholo
(McMullen 1977, 228 image 135). Amplified cartoon images of the sitter are part of the
artistic piece, which is also a cartoon. An example of a nude Mona Lisa is the one by a
follower of da Vinci. (McMullen 1977, 67, image 38) These nude renditions date back to
the sixteenth century. According to McMullen (1977, 67) some believe that they are
copies of the original Mona Lisa by da Vinci. Other nude representations include
representations 91, 92, 93 and 97 in McMullen (1977, 150-151, 157), image XV in della
Chiesa (1967, 105). People started thinking that the lady in the Mona Lisa had
22
sophisticated sexuality, and she appeared in mutation copies as a courtesan. An example
is Lady in Her Bath by François Clouet, which is discussed under “New Works”.
Many representations of cartoons were found. These increased in the twentieth
century, as Dadaism, Surrealism and Pop Culture became popular, and interpretations of
the Mona Lisa varied. Examples of cartoons include the sitter making a face (della
Chiesa 1967, 105, IV), and the sitter with her hands over her eyes (della Chiesa 1967,
105, XXVI).
Examples of embedded representations include representations 101 and 122 in
McMullen (1977, 166, 206). Image 101 is of the scene of da Vinci painting the Mona
Lisa. It depicts the lady sitting and being entertained by court jesters, while Raphael and
a monk look on. Image 122 King Carnival with Mona Lisa by G.A. Mossa depicts the
lady of the Mona Lisa snuggling up to a Rabelaisian figure of King Carnival. Here the
semantic content is changed; it is ink. Gioconda with Keys by Fernand Leger (McMullen
1977, 224, 133) is an example of an embedded representation which is also a cartoon,
where the admiration of the Mona Lisa is satirized.
An example of a sketch is image eight in Scalliérez (2003, 16). An example of a
study is Plate XV in Goldblatt (1961, 62). It is also an extraction which focuses on the
face, and includes circular marks to study facial proportions.
An example of radiography is the image on page 10 of della Chiesa (1967) and
image 66 in McMullen (1977, 113). The latter is also an extraction, since it is an image
of the face of the lady in the Mona Lisa. A photographic negative representation is the
one by J. Margat (della Chiesa 1967, 105, XXI). A photographic abstraction
23
representation is the Mona Lisa as a narrower image (Della Chiesa 1967, 105, image
XXXVI).
An example of a scientific mutation is the Squared Gioconda (McMulllen 1977,
231, 141) This was produced in 1973 using optical equipment during experiments aimed
at finding how people remember faces. Examples of computerized representations
include representations 142 and 143 in McMullen (1977, 232). Image 142, Striped
Gioconda, and 143, Abstract Gioconda, were produced by artist Shigeo Fukuda by
playing with printing methods.
The ideational and semantic content vary more with mutations than with
derivations. The ideational content varies the most with cartoons, and scientific or
computerized representations. The semantic content varies with most with scientific or
computerized representations.
5.2 New Work
Sometimes the ideational content of a representation is changed so much, the
work can be considered new. An example is Lady in Her Bath, painted by Francois Clout
(McMullen 1977, image 94). It is not so obvious that the painter derived his idea for the
painting from the Mona Lisa. The lady does have a mysterious look and smile. She is
nude, her arms are not crossed and she is holding something with one hand, and several
people appear in the painting, including a mother suckling her baby. The latter can just
as easily be said to be derived from a painting of the Virgin Mary. Furthermore, Nature
is not depicted. Another work that can be considered new is Raphael’s Lady with a
Unicorn, dated to about 1506. (McMullen 1977, image 37) McMullen wrote that this is
24
part of a Florentine series which Raphael painted under the influence of the Mona Lisa.
The position of the lady is similar, yet there is no mysterious smile, or Nature depicted, or
plain dress. The overall feel, although subjective, is different. The sitter is holding a
unicorn. According to McMullen (1977, 37), X-ray studies revealed that a saint’s mantle
and wheel had been repainted by another hand, presumably da Vinci’s, with a unicorn
emerging in the work.
6.0 Conclusion
Old popular works of art have many derivations and mutations. Work must be
done to find the types of derivations and mutations, and to categorize them into a
taxonomy that would be a first step toward more effective information retrieval tools.
The sample taken for this study was small, and was not obtained in a systematic way.
Studies to obtain representations of the Mona Lisa from print, Internet and commercial
sources will undoubtedly retrieve more, various types of representations. Different
technological mutations may be found in the future.
Difficulty might arise since categories of representations can overlap: an
extraction can be a cartoon, for instance. One type of mutation may also be another type
of mutation, or even another type of derivation. The cartoon mutation of the Mona Lisa
smile on a dog in della Chiesa (1967, XIX) is also an extraction derivation. The
radiography mutation in della Chiesa (1967, 10) is also an extraction derivation. Only the
face of the sitter, for the most part, is shown. King Carnival with Mona Lisa (McMullen
25
1977, 206, image 122) is both a cartoon and an embedded mutation. More research is
needed in this area.
Future research can be done to comprise more terms to describe derivations or
mutations of an art work such as the Mona Lisa which is old and popular and has
influenced and whose interpretation has influenced culture over time. More research can
be done to define what would compose a new work altogether. Research can also be
done to explore the various interpretations of the painting across time and culture, and to
see how these interpretations influenced the emergence of derivations and mutations.
This research can include categorizing representations of the Mona Lisa according to
different art movements in the United States, Europe, and other areas.
An interesting study would be to see if the Mona Lisa is in fact part of a work of
an older progenitor. McMullen (1977, 80 and 84) wrote that mysterious smiles were
prominent in Gothic religious paintings, and that fictional natural scenery was prominent
in his religious works.
So many representations of the Mona Lisa exist: in museums, in books, in
products in stores, or on Ebay, on the Internet. Research will result in a complete
taxonomy of derivations and mutations that will ultimately aid in taxonomies of art works
in general, and in the production of more effective information retrieval tools for these art
works.
26
Works Cited
Carpenter, Michael. 1981. Corporate authorship: Its role in library cataloging.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Clark, Kenneth.1961. Leonardo da Vinci An account of his development as an artist
Baltimore: Penguin Books.
Chiesa, Anglela Ottino della, ec. 1967. The complete paintings of Leonardo da Vinci
London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson.
Eggert, Paul. 1994. Editing paintings/conserving literature: The nature of the “work”. In
Studies in bibliography, vol. 47, ed. By David L. Vander Meulen, 65-78. Charlottsville,
Pub. For The bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia by the University
Press of Virginia.
Gould, Cecil Hilton Monk. 1975. Leonardo: The artist and the non-artist Boston: New
York Graphic Society Ltd.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
http://www.ifla.org
Accessed on December 1, 2004
McMullen, Roy. 1977. Mona Lisa: The picture and the myth New York: Da Capo Press,
Inc.
Merriam-Webster Online http://www.merriamwebster.com Accessed on December 8,
2004
27
Sassure, Ferdinand de. 1959 (repr. 1966) Course in general linguistics. Ed. By Charles
Bally and Albert Sechehaye; in collaboration with Albert Riedlinger; trans., with an
introduction and notes by Wade Baskin. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Smiraglia, Richard P. 2001. The nature of work: Implications for the organization of
knowledge. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.
Smiraglia, Richard P. 2003. The history of the work in the modern catalog. Cataloging &
classification quarterly 35(3/4): 553-67.
Smiraglia, Richard P. 2004. Knowledge sharing and content geneology: extending the
“works” model as a metaphor for non-documentary artifacts with case studies of Etruscan
artifacts. In: Knowledge Organization and the Global Information Society, ed. By Ian C.
McIlwaine, 309-321. Wurzburg, Germany: Ergon Verlag.
Tillett, Barbara B. 1991. A taxonomy of bibliographic relationships. Library Resources
and Technical Services 35(2): 150-158.
Accessed on November 10, 2004.
Vellucci, Sherry L. Bibliographic Relationships. International Conference on the
Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Canada, October 23-25, 1997.
Available at: http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/200/300/jsc_aacr/bib_rel/r-bibrel.pdf
Accessed on November 10, 2004.
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa
Accessed on December 8, 2004
Wilson, Patrick. 1968. Two kinds of power: An essay on bibliographical control.
Berkeley: University of California.
28
Yee, Martha M. 1994a. Manifestations and near-equivalents: Theory, with special
attention to moving-image materials. Library Resources and Technical Services 38(3)
227-255.
Yee, Martha M. 1994b. Manifestations and near-equivalents of moving image works: A
research project. Library Resources and Technical Services 38(4):355-372.
Yee, Martha M. 1994c. What is a work? Part 1: The User and the Objects of the Catalog
Cataloguing & Classification Quarterly 19(2): 5-22.
Yee, Martha M. 1995d. What is a work? Part 4: The User and the Objects of the Catalog
Cataloguing & Classification Quarterly 20(2): 3-24.
29
Appendix IBibliography of Source Books
ArtBook Leonardo. London: Dorling Kindersley; 1999.
Bodmer, Heinrich. 1931. Leonardo: Des meisters gemalde und zeichnungen in 360
abbildungen Berlin: Stuttgart Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.
Calder, Ritchie. 1970. Leonardo and the Age of the Eye New York: Simon and Schuster.
Clark, Kenneth.1961. Leonardo da Vinci An account of hisdDevelopment as an artist
Baltimore: Penguin Books.
Constantino, Maria. 1994. Leonardo Greenwich, CT: Brompton Books.
Chiesa, Anglela Ottino della, ec. 1967. The complete paintings of Leonardo da Vinci
London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson.
Fumagalli, Guiseppina. 1952. Leonardo: Omo sanza lettere Florence: G.C. Sansoni
SPA.
Gould, Cecil Hilton Monk. 1975. Leonardo: The artist and the non-artist Boston: New
York Graphic Society Ltd.
Hohenstatt, Peter. 1998. Leonardo da Vinci Berlin: Konemann.
McMullen, Roy. 1977. Mona Lisa: The picture and the myth New York: Da Capo Press,
Inc.
Philipson, Morris, ed. 1996. Leonardo da Vinci: Aspects of the Renaissance Genius New
York: George Braziller.
Roger-Miles, Leon. 1923. Leonard De Vinci et les jocondes Paris, H. Floury.
Rosci, Marco. 1977. The hidden leonardo Chicago: Rand McNally & Company.
30
Scaillierez, Cecile. 2003. Leonard De Vinci: La joconde Paris : Réunion des musées
nationaux
Siren, Osvald. 1916. Leonardo da Vinci, the artist and the man New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press.
Stites, Raymond S. 1970. The sublimations of Leonardo da Vinci Washington, D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution Press.
Svenonius, Elaine. 2000. The intellectual foundation of information organization.
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Vallentin, Antonina. 1938. Leonardo da Vinci: The Tragic Pursuit of Perfection New
York: Viking Press.
Wallace, Robert. 1967. The world of Leonardo, 1452-1519 New York: Time, Inc.
Wasserman, Jack. 1984. Leonardo Da Vinci: Leonardo New York: Harry N. Abrams.
31
Appendix IISubsequent representations of original (photograph representations, with second generation representations in source books as representations)Representation Artist Source DateMona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Bodmer 1931, 36 1503-1515Mona Lisa, color Leonardo da Vinci Calder 1970, 147 1503-1515Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci della Chiesa 1967,
Tav. XLVII-IL1503-1515
Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Eissler 1962, 171 1503-1515Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Freud 1947, 171 1503-1515Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Fumagalli 1952,
Tav. XXIV1503-1515
Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Gould 1975, 102 1503-1515Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977,
introduction1503-1515
*Mona Lisa float in Paris mid-Lent parade [embedded], B/W
NA McMullen 1977, 205, image 121
1912
Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Philipson 1996, Figure 7
1503-1515
Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Rosci 1976 1503-1515Mona Lisa, color Leonardo da Vinci Scaillierez 2003, 5 1503-1515Mona Lisa, B/W Leonardo da Vinci Stites 1970, 330,
Figure 2831503-1515
Mona Lisa, color Leonardo da Vinci Vallentin 1938, 354 1503-1515Mona Lisa, color Leonardo da Vinci ArtBook Leonardo,
4 1503-1515
Mona Lisa, color Leonardo da Vinci ArtBook Leonardo, 90
1503-1515
AmplificationsRepresentation Artist Source DateThree sitters in one, B/W
NA della Chiesa, 1967, 105, image XXV
NA
Thirty Are Better Than One, B/W
Andy Warhol McMullen 1977, 216 image 130
NA
*Mona Lisa shop in Tokyo (photograph, B/W)
NA McMullen 1977, 236 image 146
1970s
32
ExtractionsRepresentation Artist
(photographer names are not noted in sources)
Source Date (of Extraction)
Face and upper part of painting, B/W
Leonardo da Vinci Bodmer 1931, 37 1503-1515
Eyes, color Leonardo da Vinci ArtBook Leonardo NAEyes, B/W Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977,
238, image 149NA
Mouth, B/W Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977, 195, image 118
NA
*Face, B/W [radiography]
Leonardo da Vinci della Chiesa, 1967, 10
NA
Face, color Leonardo da Vinci Hohenstatt 1998 NAFace, color Leonardo da Vinci Rosci 1977,130 NAFace, B/W Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977,
119, image 70NA
Upper part of Painting, color
Leonardo da Vinci Constantino1994, 97
NA
*Upper part of Mona Lisa with superimposed geometrical designs (also study)
Leonardo da Vinci Goldblatt 1961, 62 Plate XV
NA
Upper part of painting, thumbnail, B/W
Leonardo da Vinci Reti 1974, 21 1503-1515
Upper part of painting, B/W
Leonardo da Vinci Reti 1974, 25 1503-1515
Hands, color Leonardo da Vinci Constantino1994, 95
NA
Hands, B/W Leonardo da Vinci della Chiesa, 1967, 10
NA
Hands, B/W Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977, 119, image 69
NA
Hands, color Leonardo da Vinci Rosci 1977,132 NAHands, color Leonardo da Vinci Scailliérez 2003, 8,
image 4NA
Hands, color Leonardo da Vinci Wasserman 1984, 147
NA
Hands, color Leonardo da Vinci ArtBook Leonardo NAPart of face and left background, B/W
Leonardo da Vinci Wasserman 1984, 40
NA
Bodice, B/W Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977, 60, image 30
NA
33
Background, B/W(left)
Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977, 102, image 62
NA
Background, B/W(right)
Leonardo da Vinci McMullen 1977, 102, image 63
NA
Background, color Leonardo da Vinci ArtBook Leonardo NA
MutationsCopy by contemporary artistRepresentation Artist Source DateItalian copy, B/W Anonymous McMullen 1977,
141, image 83 and Siren 1916,156
NA
Spanish copy, B/W Andrea Salai McMullen 1977, 141, image 84 Bodmer 1931, 84, Siren 1916,156, and Goldblatt 1961, 104
NA
Maddelena Doni, B/W
Raphael McMullen 1977, 143
NA
La Muta, B/W Raphael McMullen 1977, 143
Around 1506
Flemish Gioconda, B/W
Anonymous McMullen 1977, 145
Mid 1500s
Right-handed imageRepresentation Artist Source DateRight-Handed Mona Lisa B/W
NA McMullen 1977 122, image 71
NA
Amplified MutationRepresentation Artist Source Date*The Occasion Makes the Gioconda[cartoon], B/W
René Bertholo McMullen 1977, 228 image 135
NA
Nude RenderingsRepresentation Artist Source DateNude Gioconda Anonymous Bodmer 1931, 7 NANude Gioconda, B/W Anonymous McMullen 1977,
150NA
Nude Gioconda, B/W Joos van Cleve McMullen 1977, 150
NA
Nude Gioconda, B/W Barthel Bruyn McMullen 1977, 150
NA
Nude Gioconda, B/W Anonymous McMullen 1977, 157 and Bodmer
Early 1600s
34
1931, 85Monna Vanna Andrea Salai Scailliérez 2003, 31,
Bodmer 1931, 86, and Goldblatt 1961, 114
NA
Nude Gioconda Anonymous Siren 1916,156Nude Mona Lisa in a pot, B/W
Souzouki della Chiesa 1967, 105
NA
CartoonRepresentation (name or description)
Artist Source Date
Sitter laughing, B/W NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, I
NA
Sitter laughing hand to mouth, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, II
NA
Sitter laughing thumb to nose, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, III
NA
Sitter in apron, B/W NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, IV
NA
Sitter making a face, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, V
NA
Lady looking like sitter and standing between two men; B/W postcard
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, VI
NA
Sitter with eyeglasses, mustache, hat and two birds on her shoulders; B/W postcard
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, VII
NA
Sitter with a pipe, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XI
NA
Sitter with bullet holes, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XIII
NA
Sitter with pins, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XVI
NA
The sitter on a motorcycle, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XVIII
NA
*Smile of sitter on a dog [embedded] , B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XIX
NA
Dissociated Mona Lisa in the figure of
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XX
NA
35
a pair of shoes, B/WThe Mona Lisa with an old man’s face, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XXII
NA
*Abstract Sketch with enlarged head of the sitter, B/W [sketch]
Anonymous della Chiesa, 1967, 105, image XXIII
Mid 1900s
Sitter with elongated neck, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XXVIII
NA
Skull on sitter, B/W NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XXIV
NA
Hands over sitter’s eyes, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XXVI
NA
Man’s face inplace of sitter’s face, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XXXIII
NA
Sitter with bob, as a transvestite B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XXXIV
NA
Sitter as seen through water, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XXXVI
NA
Deconstructed sitter with geometrical shapes, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XXXVII
NA
King Carnival with Mona Lisa, B/W
G. A. Mossa McMullen 1977, 206 image 122
Early 1900s
L.H.O.O.Q. Marcel Duchamp McMullen 1977, 220 image 131 and della Chiesa 1967, 105, IX
1919
Dali as Mona Lisa Philip Halsman McMullen 1977, 220 image 131 and della Chiesa 1967, 105, X
NA
In Tears Paul Wunderlich McMullen 1977, 227 image 134
NA
*The Occasion Makes the Gioconda B/W [amplified mutation], B/W
René Bertholo McMullen 1977, 228, image 135
Early 1900s
*Great American Nude No. 31, B/W [embedded]
Tom Wesselmann McMullen 1977, 228, image 136
Early 1900s
*Gymnastic Gioconda B/W [embedded]
Urbaniec Maciej McMullen 1977, 230, image 137
Early 1900s
36
Stalin as Mona Lisa(political)
Marinus McMullen 1977, 230, image 138 and della Chiesa 1967, 105, VIII
Early 1900s
Golda Meir as Mona Lisa (political)
David Geva McMullen 1977, 230, image 139
Early 1900s
Mona Owl (political)
Chris Marker McMullen 1977, 230, image 140
Early 1900s
Lisa ReactingNA McMullen 1977,
233, image 144NA
Tokyo Poster NA McMullen 1977, 237, image 148
1970s
Embedded Representation Artist Source Date*Smile of sitter on a dog [cartoon] , B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, XIX
NA
Troubadourish canvas showing Leonardo da Vinci painting the sitter and the painting, B/W
Aimée Bruné-Pages McMullen 1977, 166, image 101
1845
*Mona Lisa float in Paris mid-Lent parade [subsequent representation], B/W
NA McMullen 1977, 205, image 121
1912
The Return of the Mona Lisa, B/W
Orens McMullen 1977, 211, image 125
NA
Gioconda with Keys,B/W
Fernand Léger McMullen 1977, 225, image 133
1930
*The Occasion Makes the Gioconda B/W [cartoon], B/W
René Bertholo McMullen 1977, 228, image 135
Early 1900s
*Great American Nude No. 31, B/W
Tom Wesselman McMullen 1977, 229, image 136
Early 1900s
*Gymnastic Gioconda, B/W
Urbaniec Maciej McMullen 1977, 229, image 137
Early 1900s
*Mona Lisa viewers in Tokyo (photograph)
NA McMullen 1977, 236, image 147
1974
37
SketchesRepresentation (name or description)
Artist Source Date
Maddelena Doni, B/W
Raphael della Chiesa 1967, 104, McMullen 1977, 28, image 15 and Siren 1916, 156
1506
Mona Lisa with Skull, B/W
Maurice Henry della Chiesa, 1967, 105, image X
Early 1900s
*Abstract Sketch, B/W [cartoon]
Anonymous della Chiesa, 1967, 105, image XXIII
Mid 1900s
Cover of Bizarre magazine, B/W
Siné della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XXVII
1959
Sketch of face and bust of Mona Lisa, B/W
Anonymous McMullen 1977 1651
NA pencil or ink right-handed three-quarter representation
NA Scailliérez 16, image 8
NA
StudyRepresentation (name or description)
Artist Source Date
*Detail of Mona Lisa with superimposed geometrical designs [extraction]
Leonardo da Vinci Goldblatt 1961, 62 Plate XV
NA
RadiographyRepresentation (name or description)
“Artist” Source Date
*Face, B/W [Extraction]
Leonardo da Vinci della Chiesa, 1967, 10
NA
La Joconde radiography
Laboratory of the Museum of France
Scailliérez 2003, 7 1951
38
Photographic NegativeRepresentation (name or description)
Artist Source Date
Photographic negative
J. Margat della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XXI
1959
Photographic negative
NA McMullen 1977, 219 image 130
NA
Photographic abstractionRepresentation (name or description)
Artist Source Date
Face of sitter widened as in mirror effect, B/W
A. Snelling della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XXIX
NA
Profile of sitter, B/W
L. Vala della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XXX
NA
The Mona Lisa as a narrower image, B/W
NA della Chiesa 1967, 105, image XXXVI
NA
ScientificRepresentation (name or description)
Artist Source Date
Squared Gioconda NA McMullen 1977 231, image 141
1973
ComputerizedRepresentation (name or description)
Artist Source Date
Striped Gioconda Shigeo Fukuda McMullen 1977, 232 image 142
1970
Abstract Gioconda Shigeo Fukuda McMullen 1977, 232 image 143
1970
39
40