Speculations about Mona Lisa Speculations about Mona Lisa The 16th-century portrait Mona Lisa, or "La Gioconda" ("La Joconde"), painted in oil on a poplar panel by Leonardo da Vinci, has been the subject of a considerable deal of speculation. It has for a long time been argued that after Leonardo's death the painting was cut down by having part of the panel at both sides removed. Early copies depict columns on both sides of the figure. Only the edges of the bases can be seen in the original. However, some art historians, such as Martin Kemp, now argue that the painting has not been
Medusa (Leonardo da Vinci painting) 1600. Medusa (Leonardo da Vinci painting) Medusa is either of two paintings described in Giorgio Vasari's "Life" of Leonardo da Vinci as being among Leonardo's earliest works. Neither painting survived. In his "Vita di Leonardo" (1568), Vasari reports that, as a very young man, Leonardo represented the head of Medusa on a wooden shield: Although art historians have doubted the veracity of this anecdote, Leonardo's shield (long since lost) has been said to inspire several early 17th-century painters who may have seen it in the collection of Ferdinand I de Medici. Rubens and Caravaggio are known to have painted their