The Mona Lisa
For centuries folks have been speculating about that mysterious, beautiful smile.
What do I have to say to the Mona Lisa, someone asked me once.
I told him, that a) I did not consider the Mona Lisa beautifully, and b) there is nothing mysterious about that smile.
The man looked at me as if I had just slapped him across the face.
I tried to explain myself:
The woman must have been sitting there, day after day, hour after hour, waiting for da Vinci to finish painting her portrait. Have you ever looked at the background, and how detailed it is? It must have taken many hours to get things to look perfect.
I told the man to try smiling for five hours, none stop, and then go take a look in the mirror. No one would consider his smile mysterious. Forced, tired, grouchy, or half-hearted, would be the only compliments he’d got, if any at all. Weird, yes, but mysterious? Definitely not on the list!
What do I have to say to the Mona Lisa, someone asked me once.
I told him, that a) I did not consider the Mona Lisa beautifully, and b) there is nothing mysterious about that smile.
The man looked at me as if I had just slapped him across the face.
I tried to explain myself:
The woman must have been sitting there, day after day, hour after hour, waiting for da Vinci to finish painting her portrait. Have you ever looked at the background, and how detailed it is? It must have taken many hours to get things to look perfect.
I told the man to try smiling for five hours, none stop, and then go take a look in the mirror. No one would consider his smile mysterious. Forced, tired, grouchy, or half-hearted, would be the only compliments he’d got, if any at all. Weird, yes, but mysterious? Definitely not on the list!