TWA from Thursday, June 15, 2017 “The scent of apple cake” by Marge Piercy from Made in Detroit. © Knopf, 2015. ORIGINAL TEXT AND AUDIO - 2017 Today is the birthday of the Italian model Lisa del Giocondo, born Lisa Gherardini in Florence (1479). We don’t know much about her childhood, but we know that when she was 15, she married a wealthy silk merchant nearly twice her age. She didn’t have a rich dowry, and most girls in her situation would not have found husbands but would have been sent to a convent, unless her family had political connections or other advantages. Lisa’s advantage was that she was beautiful, and Francesco del Giocondo was captivated by her. He arranged to marry her for a piece of her father’s farmland, and their marriage seems to have been a happy one. Francesco’s will specifically mentions her noble spirit and her faithfulness, and speaks of his love and affection for her.
I did not know the Mona Lisa story. Thank you!
A tiny point regarding the Mona Lisa:
It isn’t on a canvas, rather it is painted on a poplar panel.
(Also worth noting: There are early sketches of the finished painting --done by
other, later artists-- that indicate that the original painting was square-shaped.
The standard assumption is that the picture was trimmed down to fit a frame
by a latter owner.)
I did not know the Mona Lisa story. Thank you!
A tiny point regarding the Mona Lisa:
It isn’t on a canvas, rather it is painted on a poplar panel.
(Also worth noting: There are early sketches of the finished painting --done by
other, later artists-- that indicate that the original painting was square-shaped.
The standard assumption is that the picture was trimmed down to fit a frame
by a latter owner.)