Worksheet-9

Incorporating Sources

Integrate the information on the identity of the “Mona Lisa,” the subject of Leonardo da
Vinci’s famous painting in the two passages below into your own paragraph on the topic,
using a combination of paraphrase and quotation, and documenting your use of the sources
using the APA format for in-text citations. You must quote at least once from each source,
and use your own language when paraphrasing. Your paragraph should be about 150
words long.

She presents an unresolved riddle after almost 500 years. Her identity remains
uncertain; her smile is still an enigma. The “Mona Lisa” may be the world’s most famous
painting, the most analysed, romanticised, satirised and appropriated, but she is also
unknowable. She returns our gaze, her secrets intact.
The first to mention her was the Italian historian Giorgio Vasari. In his monumental
account of the Italian artists of his time, he reported her appearance in minute detail. But
he is inaccurate, and the errors are puzzling until you learn that he never saw the picture.
Much else in Vasari’s account has been unpicked, including the identity of the sitter.
He tells us that she was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo-Monna
Lisa. But the notion that she was just a Florentine housewife does not content everyone.
Various arguments have been put forward to give her a more aristocratic or idealised
identity.
The problem of identification is compounded by Leonardo’s decision to keep the
portrait. When he left Italy in 1516 to become court decorator for Francois I of France, he
took the Mona Lisa with him, possibly unfinished. Leonardo had no heirs, and this
famous Italian painting remained in France.
It became part of the royal collection, and might have languished unknown had not
history played an ace. The Revolution turned the Louvre, formerly a palace, into a public
art gallery. Suddenly the Mona Lisa found herself owned by the French state and housed
in arguably the most famous museum in the world. Writers began to circle around her,
making a cult of Leonardo, trying to analyse the source of her power. She both enchanted
and disturbed, becoming a devouring temptress.

Source: Spalding, F. & Nemos, G. (2001). Enduring riddle of a mysterious woman. The
Independent, p. C3-4

Historians agree that Leonardo commenced the painting of Mona Lisa in 1503,
working on it for approximately four years and keeping it himself for some years after.
Supposedly this was because Mona Lisa was Leonardo's favourite painting and he was
loathe to part with it. Whatever the reason, much later it was sold to the King of France
for four thousand gold crowns. What is certain is that the painting was never passed onto
the rightful owner, that being the man who originally commissioned and presumably paid
for it.
Who was the lady in question? At this time researchers remain uncertain of the
sitter's identity with some claiming she was Isabella of Aragon, the widowed Duchess of
Milan; they point out the 'widows veil' on her head as supporting evidence. Others
conclude she was the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici, but the veil on her head may well
be a symbol of chastity, commonly shown at the time in portraits of married women. The
path shown may also be the 'path of virtue', which would be unlikely to appear in a
painting of a mistress. It is probable that she was Mona Lisa Gherardini, the third wife of
wealthy silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. At this stage Lisa would have been over
twenty-four years of age, by the standards of the time she was not in any way considered
particularly beautiful, though Leonardo saw certain qualities which have now made her
the most heavily insured woman in history.
The most unusual suggestion is that Mona Lisa was really a man in disguise,
perhaps being a form of self-portrait and the face of Leonardo himself. Computer tests
show some of the facial features match well that of another self-portrait of Leonardo.
Some copies of the Mona Lisa also show the sitter as a male. 

Source: Mona Lisa’s many faces and phantasms. (n.d.) Retrieved April 12, 2009, from
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/mona.html
Name: Ahnaf Iqbal
Date: 8/4/20

ID: 1813277630

ENG 105.24

Assignment: Incorporating Sources

The Mona-Lisa, maybe the world’s most popular portray and however the genuine personality of
the lady within the representation is still a secret. The issue regarding the genuine character was
made more complex by the reality that Da Vinci took the portray - most likely unfinished - with
him to France when he was called to be the court decorator of the French ruler Francois I and
since Leonardo had no beneficiaries the representation afterward on got to be portion of the
illustrious collection (Spalding & Nemos, 2001, p. C3-4). Concurring to Spalding & Nemos
(2001), the essential figure behind the increased ubiquity of the representation was the French
transformation which turned the Louver into the foremost popular exhibition hall within the
world and “Suddenly the Mona Lisa found herself claimed by the French state and housed in
apparently the foremost popular gallery within the world.”(p. C3-4). Most historians accept Da
Vinci took about 4 a long time to complete the portray and kept it with him for a number of a
long time a short time later. Giorgio Vasari, an Italian student of history was the primary to
conversation almost this popular portray, but his portrayal was not very exact considering he
never saw the portray himself (Spaldin & Nemos, 2001, p. C3-4). Concurring to him the Mona-
lisa was Lisa Gherardini, the spouse of Francesco del Giocondo-Monna Lisa, in any case not
everybody was satisfied with this claim, and a few other contentions with respect to her genuine
character were put forward. Some say she was the widowed Duchess of Milan - Isabella of
Aragon, while others say she was the fancy woman of Giuliana de' Medici, but the likely reply to
her the address of her personality is she was the third spouse of Francesco del Giaconda, a well
off silk dealer. (“Mona Lisa’s numerous faces and phantasms.” n.d.). But until presently the
foremost peculiarly proposal approximately her character was that, “Mona Lisa was truly a man
in camouflage, maybe being a shape of self-portrait and the confront of Leonardo
himself.”(“Mona Lisa’s numerous faces and phantasms.” n.d.).

Word Count: 349