Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered

by Dianne Hales

Everybody knows her smile, but no one knows her story: Meet the flesh-and-blood woman who became one of the most famous artistic subjects of all time—Mona Lisa.

A genius immortalized her. A French king paid a fortune for her. An emperor coveted her. Every year more than 9 million visitors trek to view her portrait in the Louvre.Yet while everyone recognizes her smile, hardly anyone knows her story. Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered, a blend of biography, history, and memoir, truly is a book of discovery—about the world’s most recognized face, most revered artist, and most praised and parodied painting. Who was she, this ordinary woman who rose to such extraordinary fame? Why did the most renowned painter of her time choose her as his model? What became of her? And why does her smile enchant us still?

Lisa Gherardini (1479-1542) was a quintessential woman of her times, caught in a whirl of political upheavals, family dramas, and public scandals. Her life spanned the most tumultuous chapters in the history of Florence—and of the greatest artistic outpouring the world has ever seen. Her story creates an extraordinary tapestry of Renaissance Florence, with larger-than-legend figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli.

Dianne Hales, author of La Bella Lingua, became obsessed with finding the real Mona Lisa on repeated trips to Florence. In Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered, she takes readers with her to meet Lisa’s descendants; uncover her family’s long and colorful history; and explore the neighborhoods where she lived as a girl, a wife, and a mother. In the process, we can participate in Lisa’s daily rituals; understand her personal relationships; and see, hear, smell, and taste “her” Florence. Hales brings to life a time poised between the medieval and the modern, a vibrant city bursting into fullest bloom, and a culture that redefined the possibilities of man—and of woman.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Art, Italy, Historical, Art History

336 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2014

About the author

Ever since I was a girl, I had only one career goal: to write for a living. And so I have! I've written more than forty trade and textbooks and about a thousand articles for national publications.

Along the way I fell in love with Italian and wrote LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, which became a New York Times best-seller and earned me the great honor of an Italian knighthood.

I then wrote a biography of Mona (Madame) Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, the real woman in Leonardo's iconic portrait. MONA LISA: A Life Discovered was an Amazon "best book of the year" in art history and was translated into six languages.

LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World is a sweeping journey through three thousand years of Italian history, celebrating the great contributions of Italy’s artists, artisans, writers, film directors, racers, fashion designers—and more. It appeals to the Italian in all our souls, inspiring us to be as daring as Italy’s gladiators, as eloquent as its poets, as alluring as its beauties, and as irresistible as its lovers.

Reviews

[Grumpus · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the *#!?

Now that I have your attention. . .

How does one write a book about Mona Lisa, art history, and travels through beautiful Italy without a single picture? The only photo of the famous Mona Lisa is on the cover and that is a very transparent image.

The author goes in detail describing the places she visited in tracing the life of Lisa (which I truly appreciated) but would it have hurt to take a camera and show us actual images? Same goes for the works of art she describes throughout the book. I was completely annoyed that I had to go to the internet and search for images of the works she discussed. I also had to look up images of the de Medici family (and ooh, they are not lookers), Salai (Leonardo’s pupil and maybe more), and others. Am I wrong? The book could have been 4 or 5 stars with those additions.

On the positive side, her writing style was very descriptive and helped me mentally “be there” with Lisa, Leonardo, and with all those she researched that led up to their fateful encounter. There was also a nice epilogue detailing what became of everyone and subsequent generations of Lisa’s family.

I have been trying to teach myself Italian and valued her use of that language (with translations) throughout the book where appropriate. Without the images, all I can say is it was un buon libro (a good book) but dove sono le foto (where are the photos)?

[Ionia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sheer amount of research and man (well in this case woman) hours that went into this flawless book is deserving of five stars. Dianne Hales is a passionate researcher, this much is clear, but she is also a gifted writer. Where many non-fiction books tend to be dry and somewhat acerbic in their approach to delivering information, this author uses her talent as a story teller to make you see and feel what you are reading. The descriptions in this book are incredible.

Rather than sitting in the national archives of Italy for the entire duration of research needed to compile the factual backbone of this book, Dianne Hales went and lived the life (or as close to the life) of Lisa Gherardini as she could. She walked the same streets, saw similar sights and pieced together the missing parts of a life that has been so important to so many but never fully appreciated until now.

This book offers amazing insight into the life of a woman that we all recognise but most of us know little to nothing about. The author also carefully constructed the timeline of Da Vinci and offered a thorough historical background on the history of the Gherardini family tree. While there are still mysteries that remain, this book offers a rather comprehensive look at Florentine life many years ago.

The way this book is organised offers the reader a step-by-step journey into the past, progressively moving forward to the actual painting of the subject at the core of this writing. The author was careful to remain impartial and use the evidence she compiled to support her work, rather than letting this run wild with opinion.

I was greatly impressed with this book and think scholars of the age as well as anyone interested in art history will gain from reading this.

Excellent book, written with passion and intensity.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Netgalley and the Publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mona Lisa Timeline pulled the whole book together in a neat package for me at the end. Dianne Hales was passionate about this family and the heritage of Gherardini, and absolutely about the person we know as Mona Lisa.

Lisa Gherardini was born in 1465 in Renaissance Florence Italy and lived in a time in between medieval and the modern. She was descended from ancient nobility of that city and lived her life in that fashion. She lived through some unsettled times in Italy and she entered a convent after her husband's death.


The city then seemed to "forget" her for hundreds of years, except for her iconic portrait. The author has brought "Una Donna Vera" or the real woman,Lisa to our attention, at long last. Her life and times were impeccably researched and I recommend it to scholars of this period of history and this culture.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. A fascinating study of the real-life model for Leonardo's Mona Lisa, arguably the most famous portrait in the world, parodied now as kitsch. The author found her existence in baptismal records and since has spent years researching her subject, Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, wife of a wealthy silk merchant. Not only consulting books, the author interviewed many people knowledgeable about Italian Renaissance history, culture, customs and family relationships. We meet many famous people of that era, such as Leonardo da Vinci, the Medici, and others. We trace out what Lisa's life may have been, from marriage, childbearing, to death and burial in a monastery. We trace many of the famous families of those days through their intermarriage. There is an interesting section on recent study of the Mona Lisa, using modern forensic techniques and her history--how she passed from Italy to her home in France.

I applaud a substantial bibliography and complete index, but I regret the lack of color plates. The book could have used a section, especially of art works described extensively in the text.
The only illustration of the Mona Lisa appears as cover art and it is as though she is behind fog or a scrim. The author probably couldn't have described Lisa's life but for the heavy speculation taken from the author's description of Renaissance life. She used such words as "Perhaps", "maybe", "it could have been this way", etc. Very readable, for the educated layperson.

Recommended.

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Sara Zovko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ovaj mi je roman zadao toliko muka, do samog kraja tražila sam ono nešto što će me oduševiti , davala nove prilike, ali ništa od toga. Puno je tu podataka. Od povijesti Firence i povijesnih previranja, bogataških i plemićkih obitelji , politike i gospodarstva, trgovine do Leonarda Da Vincija. Sve su to vrlo zanimljivi događaji , zaista jesu, ali spisateljica je eto uspjela stvoriti jednu vrlo dosadnu i suhoparnu knjigu, bez puno emocija. Iako se vidi da je uložila puno vremena i truda za svoje istraživanje, pročitala brojne podatke onoga vremena i pričala sa vrhunskim stručnjacima, potrebno je puno više od pukog nizanja podataka i događaja da bi knjiga bila dobra.

[Alana White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who was the real Mona Lisa? Today, most scholars agree she was Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Renaissance Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. But what of the woman herself—daughter, sister, wife and mother—whose image the divine Leonardo would immortalize in one of the world's most famous paintings? On her quest to satisfy her curiosity about the woman everyone recognizes but hardly anyone knows, Dianne Hales researched Florence in Lisa's day, exploring her neighborhood and the street where she lived, reading diaries, Journals and letters, interpreting family genealogies, talking with people, threading a path through scholarly skirmishes—and, of course, turning to Leonardo, himself. In Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered, Hales has created for the woman with the enigmatic smile a vivid life history set against the customs—"the clothing, the homes, the rituals, the routines"—of Florence in the 15th to 16th centuries. What a wonderful, rich book this is! I can't recommend it highly enough. (The book includes a map {"Mona Lisa's Florence"} and a family tree, along with pages of notes and a bibliography that will keep me returning to this excellent nonfiction book again and again.)

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week:
A genius immortalised her. A French king paid a fortune for her. An emperor coveted her. Every year more than 9 million visitors trek to view her portrait in the Louvre. Yet while everyone recognizes her smile, hardly anyone knows her story.

Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered - a blend of biography, history, and memoir - truly is a book of discovery about the world's most recognised face, most revered artist, and most praised and parodied painting.

Who was she, this ordinary woman who rose to such extraordinary fame? Why did the most
renowned painter of her time choose her as his model? What became of her? And why does her smile enchant us still?

The author, Dianne Hales, is a prize-winning, widely published journalist and author. The President of Italy awarded her an honorary knighthood in recognition of her internationally bestselling book, La Bella Lingua.

Abridged by Eileen Horne
Reader: Nancy Crane
Producer: Clive Brill

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some good aspects and some less good ones. About 50 pages in, I was ready to say, "Forget it," and move on to something else. But I stuck with it and am happy to report that the second half is better than the first.

The good: If you want to know the details of everyday life in northern and central Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries, this book delivers. And of course, the reader will learn the particulars of the life of Lisa Gherardini, her forebears and offspring, her husband and his family, the Medici family, and Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, very little actual information is available about Mona Lisa herself (more on that in a moment).

Sometimes the best is saved for last. That is the case here in the final two chapters where we are treated to the "adventures" of the painting itself, post-Leonardo, and its status as a cultural icon.

The bad: The author adopts an unfortunate style of melodrama as she incorporates her personal story of discovery into the historical narrative. She also uses Italian terms when it appears unnecessary to do so, thereby adding more detail to a book already full of daunting detail. An excerpt from pages 73-74 illustrates this:

"Don't waste your time looking through baptismal ledgers in Florence," an archivist advises. "You can find it online when you get back home."

With some trepidation, on my return to California I take up the challenge, still daunting to me, of digging through Italian digital archives. As I position myself before my computer, my apprehension intensifies. With trembling fingers, I search for the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore di Firenze. A few clicks bring me to the cathedral's "risorse digitali" (digital resources) and its "registri battesimali" (baptismal registries). Zeroing in on the ledger for June of 1479, I hit the key to visualizzare the list - and hold my breath.

[I am skipping past a paragraph where she finds the record she is looking for.]

Leaping out of my chair, I dance with excitement. More than 530 years later, at a distance of some 6,100 miles, in a country yet to be discovered at the time of her birth, I have found the original record of Lisa Gherardini's entry into the world.

What's next? Her heaving bosom? Please! Just shoot me now! If you like this writing style, this book might be for you. It isn't for me. Fortunately, this "Gee Whiz" excess dwindles away by the second half of the book.

Another problem is hard to avoid in a book like this, and that is the blizzard of names, dates, and movements as she traces the da Vinci, del Giocondo, Gherardini, and Medici family histories. I thought these chapters were more detailed than they needed to be, but it's a tough call. After I finished the book, I discovered a reference on the principal characters tucked away at the end of the book. It would have been better to put this reference up front where linear readers like me would have seen it before wading through the entire family stories.

Because very little is known of Mona Lisa herself and the people surrounding her, the author can only surmise the particulars of the story. As a result, we often read that Lisa may have done this or she could have witnessed that. Those types of constructs are used so often that I was thinking it might have been better to have made this an historical novel and just asserted all the things that the author was qualifying. In the end I changed my mind about the possible novelization, but the qualifiers really got tiresome. I think this aspect could have been handled in a way that disrupted the narrative less.

Many books of this type have 12 or 16 pages of pictures, photographs, and reproductions. This book doesn't. It would have been nice to see reproductions of some of the artwork discussed (besides the obvious Mona Lisa itself and Michaelangelo's David), some of the individuals, some places mentioned, and a map or two. Yes, the reader can look all of this up online, but when I'm reading, I'm not sitting at my computer. The book isn't complete if the author expects the reader to put down the book to go see key images online.

Overall, I give the book 3 stars ("I liked it"). The factual content, research, and analysis deserves 4 stars. I knocked off a star for the writing style that, for me, really got in the way and made the book a more difficult read than it needed to be.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dianne Hales knows how to get on my good side, starting her book with a note stating that she will always make it clear whether she is sharing speculation or fact. She also began with a family tree and a map. Despite these favorable signs, the beginning of the narrative was not so well organized. The first chapter seems to be intended as an overview of Lisa’s life, but it felt very disjointed. Abrupt transitions between scenes made it hard to get into the story, especially the transitions between the author’s experiences and Lisa’s. However, as I got into the story, the transitions felt smooth enough I hardly noticed them.

The author’s ability to capture the details of daily life in Florence and the feelings inspired by different locations was the strongest point of the book. She collected an amazing assortment of interesting stories, all connected to Lisa. She cleverly used personal correspondence from people similar to the people she was discussing to speculate about how they were feeling. She shared the feelings particular locations inspired in her to speculate about what living at those locations was like for Lisa. She always made it clear where she was extrapolating, so even though it made the story less factual, I don’t think it was misleading. In fact, I think it shared a different truth – not just about what Mona Lisa’s life was like, but what life in general was like in Florence during Lisa’s lifetime. The author’s stories included many famous people and were incredibly entertaining. I suspect this is a credit both to her research ability, finding the best anecdotes, and her enthusiasm, giving her an impressive storytelling ability.

This review first published on Doing Dewey.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

BBC Book of the Week starts August 11

A genius immortalised her. A French king paid a fortune for her. An emperor coveted her. Every year more than 9 million visitors trek to view her portrait in the Louvre. Yet while everyone recognizes her smile, hardly anyone knows her story.

Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered - a blend of biography, history, and memoir - truly is a book of discovery about the world's most recognised face, most revered artist, and most praised and parodied painting.

Who was she, this ordinary woman who rose to such extraordinary fame? Why did the most
renowned painter of her time choose her as his model? What became of her? And why does her smile enchant us still?

The author, Dianne Hales, is a prize-winning, widely published journalist and author. The President of Italy awarded her an honorary knighthood in recognition of her internationally bestselling book, La Bella Lingua.

Abridged by Eileen Horne
Reader: Nancy Crane
Producer: Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.


1/5 Who was the real Mona Lisa? And why did Leonardo paint her? Dianne Hales investigates.
2/5 Dianne Hales delves into the history of Mona Lisa's ancestors to understand her character.
3/5 Mona Lisa is born into a turbulent era, just as an artistic star from Vinci is on the rise.
4/5 As Leonardo delights the court of Milan, Florence is changing beyond all recognition.
5/5 Leonardo returns to Florence and Francesco del Giocondo commissions a portrait of his wife.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

By using the lives of Mona Lisa and da Vinci to draw a transect across the last years of the renaissance in Florence, Hales has produced an excellent popular history. By being present in the story as a journalist she also tells the story of how she researched the work, and of the artifacts and memories of the time that reach into the 21st century.

I am a Renaissance history enthusiast; but I learned new things from this book. The details that professional historians assume a journalist discovers with fresh eyes, and she lays them out as new jewels for fellow amateurs.

Absolutely fascinating, especially for the student of women in the 16th century.

[Michael Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a poster of Mona Lisa in our living room. We often draw on top of her glass with whiteboard markers. Mustaches, necklaces, and tattoos often appear on her. But I knew little of the Italian woman. After reading this story of how she may have come to life I feel more complete. The book leaves some doubt, but the story portrayed now lives within me.
The best part of the boom is how the writer threaded the lives of the artist, the model and the times into a enriching story.
If you've ever wondered about the mysterious smile, I recommend this book.

[Harvey Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so very much. It was expertly written by a very intelligent woman who told the story of Lisa Gharardini in a way that you really felt like you came to know her. I will never look at the Mona Lisa by Leonardo DiVinci the same way again. Excellent book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting conjecture delivered in a florid journalistic style.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to reach its stride, but finally when Hales focuses in on Leonardo and Lisa, the story -- their story -- begins to soar. I understand her need to go back in history and give us details of Lisa's family...I understand her need to tell HER story...but they did not ring clear to me as Leonardo's and Lisa's.

I'm not sure I needed the history of Florence in order to appreciate her as a real woman, and him as a flawed genius. There were too many "might have seen" and "could have been" statements trying to place Lisa into the flow of life.

But when I began to realize the story of the painting taking on a life of its own, almost separate from Leonardo and Lisa, I stopped resisting and fell in love.

The digressions of the author, in self-conscious present tense, were as frustrating to me as her modal verb tenses speaking of a supposed life of Lisa. I did not need them to reach the portrait, and to follow ITS biography.

I forgot the painting visited the US, and was unaware that it was hidden during WWII. I knew about the theft, but I learned more...and the whole connection with Ben Franklin intrigued me.

Another reviewer was frustrated because there were no prints or pictures or reproductions in the book. I found that a bother too. I held the book in one hand, and my iPad in the other to google the paintings as they were mentioned. I wish the publisher had sprung for the pictures...

As frustrated as I was reading the first half, I was enthralled with the second half.

"A life discovered"...but whose? Leonardo? Lisa? La Gioconda?

[Harry Allagree · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read in many ways. I learned a lot which I never knew about this famous woman & Leonardo da Vinci's painting, of which I snapped a rather nice photo when I visited the Louvre in 1998. I have to confess though, that Ms. Hales' penchant for jumping around in relating the history, as well as not always making clear what the dates were, kept me somewhat confused at times. I also think she needed some better advice on some of the Catholic religious terminology, etc. One example: "At the hour of Lisa's death, the Holy Mother Mary, whom she would have worshipped all her life…" Catholics "worship" only Christ…they "venerate" Mary & the saints.

I was impressed with the author's research & her ability to really convey Monna Lisa as "una donna vera", "a real woman". She also has an impressive bibliography. Her treatment of other copies of the famous painting is fascinating. I had no knowledge about this, especially about the earlier copy which experts, in the majority, though not conclusively, say is probably Leonardo's work, or at least bears traces of his hand.

The author's profound admiration of this captivating woman, whose smile which has drawn centuries of people in an unusual way, is evident throughout the book, as well as Hales' dedication to telling as accurate a story about her as she can.

[Jeannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Fun Read. Lets you know what is was like during the 1500's.

[Kristin Stine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Equal parts biography and travelogue, it was the perfect choice for a long plane ride.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book & recommend it to art lovers & anyone who enjoys history & a good story. It is non-fiction but is written in a very engaging way.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A splendid investigation into the antecedents of the lady with the mysterious smile, and an evocation of her millieu and world in all its colour, beauty and tragedy...Highly recommended.

[Sandy Federico · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting, but way too much supposition. Thankfully the author made very clear what was "possible" history versus what is known history.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who has long been interested in genealogy, I know first-hand how little information is available when researching someone who was relatively unknown. When I picked started reading this book, I couldn't imagine the author could come up with enough information about the famous sitter in DaVinci's portrait to make the book interesting.  But I was wrong.

It is believed that Mona Lisa is actually Lisa Gherardini (1479-1542), who lived in Florence during the height of the Italian Renaissance.  Author Dianne Hales deftly interweaves stories of historical Florentine history with what we do know about Lisa G., her contemporaries, and Leonardo DaVinci. There was plenty here to interest the reader, and I give the author kudos for all her excellent research.  My only complaint is the Hales used conjecture quite often, by posing questions meant to make us guess at to what Mona Lisa was thinking or what her personality was like.  More often than not, it leads to wishful, rather than historic thinking.  Still, I enjoyed the book and learned a little more about history, which is always a plus.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Effective writers of history know how to breathe life into their subjects. Hales combines general research of the Renaissance with investigation into Lisa Gherardini and her family, the family of Lisa's husband -- the del Giocondos, various branches of the Medici clan, and the da Vincis. While it is sometimes difficult to keep track of the web of names that is spun with this approach, it creates a fascinating story of the woman who is the subject of Leonardo's most famous work of art. Where there is room to speculate, Hales does so gracefully by drawing from general knowledge of the time periods covered in the book. My one criticism is the absence of illustrations, which would enhance references to various works of art mentioned in the text. However, the lack of pictures also serves as an invitation to explore the art through other resources. Hales' book is meticulously researched, and the expansive bibliography provides further avenues for reader inquiry. Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered is a fairly quick but still substantial read and highly worth the time.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dianne Hales takes us along on her journey of discovery into the lives of Lisa Gherardini and Leonardo DaVinci, as well as her discovery of Renaissance Florence. This will be a great companion book when visiting the city. You'll want to stroll where Lisa and her ancestors strolled, stride alongside DaVinci, or gape at the place where Savonarola was hanged. She also inserts her present-day experiences while meeting living ancestors or having lunch at one of the estates mentioned in the book. Hales is especially adept at painting imagery for readers so we can see and smell the city or step into a bridal chamber or mourn with a grieving family. Of course, the book focuses on several generations of Mona Lisa's maternal and paternal ancestors, in the process illuminating daily life in Florence or a Florentine family. Unlike many history or biography books, Hales tells this story almost like a novel. Her love for Florence and the Italian language suffuse each page of this engaging book.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dianne Hales has surpassed her first master work, La Bella Lingua, with this brilliant, fabulous, fantastic work in which she truly does discover the Life of Mona Lisa. In this 2014 work, she delves into everything and everyone that could be associated with the Mona Lisa: the sitter, her life and family, the culture, the history, the politics, the artist Leonardo, the city of Florence, those that came to possess the Mona Lisa through it's 500 year history. And how this small piece of art on a piece of poplar came in time to possess the world, and in doing so has created her own masterpiece. Brava.

I read La Bella Lingua 3 times in six months, it came to possess me and was my all time favourite book, but now it has been pushed down the stack to the #2 position, Mona Lisa: A life discovered, has seen to that.

[Amrapali Keny-pawar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never understood the 'Mona Lisa' and it was out of this curiosity that I took up this book. Must say , it took me into this Magical world of Leonardo and basically the renaissance period. It introduces us to the Mona Lisa as a person and we understand that the lady we have put up on a pedestal was actually a layperson like You and me who led the most normal life.
Then what is it about her that millions crowd at her portrait at the Louvre just to have a glimpse of her? Was it the sheer genius of Leonardo ? ...or was there a mystery in her smile?...the book clarifies everything!
What I loved most about the book was the simplicity of the language and the way the author has managed to take us into that journey through the renaissance period. Enjoyed it thoroughly!

[Prudence Debates · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the interwoven relationships in Renaissance Florence come into play in connecting Lisa Gherardini with Leonardo Da Vinci to confirm, possibly, that she is Mona Lisa. At the time the painting was unknown to the general public for a long time, owned by the French nobles (LouisXV), an American who was their friend, Napoleon, etc. The Gherardini were prominent but not noble; Lisa's family was
noble but not well off. An interesting account showing history, daily life in the times, & a bio of Leonardo

[Tiffany Zhao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading a book about Mona Lisa. When gazing at a famous painting, I am more fascinated by the lives of the people portrayed, particularly the enigma of Da Vinci's women. In the words of the author, "What was it about Leonardo and the ladies he chose to paint that brought out such intensity?" Lovely book. I learnt so much about the history and environment of the Renaissance ladies. They might not have been conventional ravishing beauties but they were all striking for their individuality and strength of character.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me there was way too much historical detail on the history of Florence and too little discussion of the painting itself. The final chapters were interesting as the author traced the life of the painting from Italy, through possession by the French royalty, to it’s tours around the world. The author did a tremendous amount of research on the real Mona Lisa and her life. I’m sure that level of detail is appreciated by some people.