First Lady of the Reniaissance Page 15

Description

Apologies for this Description being so long, but I fell down a rabbit hole doing the research!!! This was FASCINATING and brand new information to me!!

In 1499 after the French invaded northern Italy, Leonardo was forced to leave Milan and head back to his home town of Florence, On the way he stopped off at Mantua where he was commissioned by the Marchioness of Mantua, Isabella D'Este, to paint her portrait.

Leonardo painted the cartoon, which currently hangs in the Louvre, but never completed the portrait. That we know of...

In recent years there have risen 2 theories about the portrait of Isabella d'Este.

One is a previously unknown portrait that was discovered in Switzerland in 2013. Was this the official portrait that Leonardo painted for Isabella?

Or is there another much more well known portrait of Isabella?

Let's go back to the beginning.

Who was Isabella D'Este?

She was born and raised in Ferrara - the home of the d'Este family. They were patrons of the arts and Isabella also grew up as a patron of the arts. She was also said to be a leader of fashion as well. At age 15, she was married to Francesco Gonzaga and moved to Mantua. She wrote many letters to various member of her family and to other nobles as well as to artists and scholars, for most of her adult life, so her life is very well documented.

Isabella and Francesca Gonazaga had 8 children, but while her marriage was a relatively happy one in the early years, it did not stay that way. Mostly because Francesco had a long term affair with Isabella's sister in law - the infamous Lucrezia Borgia!! And also, because Francesco continued to "dip his wick" into many other "honeypots." Eventually he caught syphilis and died from the disease in 1519. Which ironically was the same year that Leonardo da Vinci died.

Isabella was regent for her husband while he was held prisoner in Venice from 1509 to 1512. During this time she read Machiavelli's book, the Prince, for instructions on how to run a city state. She also read up on architecture, agriculture and politics. After the death of her husband, Isabella was also regent for her son Federico from 1519 to 1521 when he came of age.

In 1527, Isabella moved to Rome, but was caught up in the sack of Rome later that same year. The sack of Rome in 1527 was the attempt by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, (Hapsberg dynasty, Netherlands, Spain, Austro-Hungary, & Germany) to invade and capture the Papal states and add those territories to his empire.

After the city of Rome had recovered, Isabella returned home to Mantua where she lived out her life under the rule of her son Federico and her grandson, also called Federico. She turned Mantua into a centre of culture, started a school for girls, and turned her ducal apartments into a museum containing the finest art treasures. Hence why she commissioned lots of art works.

But eventually she grew bored, and in 1537, she given the commune of Solarolo to rule over and manage which she did until her death in 1539

Meanwhile - Leonardo da Vinci never ever identified who the lady in the portrait of Mona Lisa was. He called her L'Isa d'Giocondo.

Historians have identified this "Name" as Lisa del Giocondo. the wife of Francesca del Giocondo. But it was custom for the Nobility Women in that era to keep their fathers names (their maiden names) and not take on the surname of their spouses. Isabella D'Este and her sister Beatrice D'Este were always known by their fathers names, and not that of their spouses. Lucrezia Borgia was always known by her maiden name, Borgia, and not her husbands name, d'Este. Lucrezia was married to Isabella's brother Alfonso, even while she was sleeping with Isabella's husband. So Lisa del Giocondo by rights should have been known as Lisa Di Gheradini. Not as Lisa del Giocondo.

Leonardo's name for this most famous of his portraits was L'Isa del Giocondo. In English that translates to Isa the Jocund. The Webster-Merriweather Dictionary defines the word Jocund as meaning Happy, smiling, beaming, being in high spirits, good humour, etc etc. Isa was the short form of Isabella. Isabella and Leonardo first met in 1499. Isabella was a very happy women in the early years of her marriage, before Lucrezia Borgia arrived on the scene.

Mantua in Lombardy, can be seen in the background in Leonardo's portrait of Isabella. The view in the portrait is approximate 4000 feet, above the city of Mantua looking north to the Italian Alps. Leonardo was centuries ahead of his time and undeniably fascinated with flight. Somehow he painted an aerial view of Mantua in his great masterpiece. Not until 2012, when aerial photography was studied could the intention of Leonardo be understood and revealed. Illuminating the previously unknown landscape in the famous portrait.

This has to be sufficient proof that the Mona Lisa was in fact a portrait of Isabella D'Este.

Supplies

Font - Leonardo Hand Font - available for free here
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Edge Overlay - Number 5 - Melo Vrijhof
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Cream Base Paper - Jessica Dunn - Today Mini Kit
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Mystery painting found in Switzerland in 2013
https://www.italymagazine.com/dual-language/mystery-painting-leonardos-portrait-isabella-deste

Large portrait (cartoon) of Isabella D'este
https://www.leonardodavinci.net/portrait-of-Isabella-deste.jsp

Lisa Giocondo - was a word play on Isa the Jocund
http://www.isabelladeste.org/leonardosriddle

Mona Lisa with Mantua Locations
http://www.isabelladeste.org/mantua-italy

Lisa del Giocondo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_del_Giocondo

Definition of Jocund.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jocund

The one cartoon of Isabella d'Este and the 2 portraits of the Mona Lisa - under the section - Relationship with Leonardo and Mona Lisa theory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_d%27Este

Sack of Rome 1527
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Rome_(1527)