Meaning of Monna Lisa | Babel Free

Definitions

Rare form of Mona Lisa.

form-of, rare

Examples

“This young artist [Frederic Leighton] is one of [Luigi] Lanzi’s and [Giorgio] Vasari’s men. He has plainly drunk long and eagerly at the Painter’s Castaly: the fount of beauty and of grace that assuaged the thirst of those who painted the “Monna Lisa” and the “Belle Gardinière;” who modelled the “Horned Moses” and the “Slave;” who designed Peter’s great Basilica, and the [Lorenzo] Ghiberti Gates at Florence.”

“When the crowd reads Hamlet or stares at the Monna Lisa, it acts in obedience to authority — to the authority of the critics; it has ceased to be a mob, it recognizes the word of command, given by Lessing, Sainte-Beuve, Matthew Arnold, or Ruskin, and marches, as to military music, rank upon rank, in orderly sequence, and salutes the world’s masterpieces.”

“There is absolutely no foundation for the story printed in America on the authority of the Cri de Paris that Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Monna Lisa” portrait has been stolen from the Louvre and has passed into the possession of a millionaire collector in New York.”

“Walter Pater’s wonderful description of the painting, “Monna Lisa,” was applicable to the women characters in Conrad’s novels. Such characters as Mrs. Travers in “The Rescue,” Arlette in “The Rover,” or Flora de Barral in “Chance,” had a poignant beauty born out of strange melancholy, and a certain foreknowledge of the destinies of mankind which made them fitting symbols of fate.”

“Leonardo Da^([sic]) Vinci’s great painting, “Monna Lisa,” worth $5,000,000, was stolen from the Louvre, Paris, 20 years ago.”

“Here, the producer and cameraman are “shooting” Leonardo’s most famous painting, the Monna Lisa, in the Louvre.”

“The artist actually named the painting Monna Lisa—an abbreviation for “Madonna” and a reference to his subject’s pregnancy, [Jonathan] Pevsner said.”

“[Martin] Kemp prefers to remind us that Leonardo's most famous painting ought to be called the "Monna Lisa" (meaning simply, "Madam Lisa") and that the smile is probably a pun on her married name - wife of Mr del Giocondo, Madam Gioconda, "she who smiles".”

“The spirit of Monna Lisa fills the air at Vignamaggio, an extraordinary 14th century Renaissance villa just outside Greve in Chianti. […] One of their [the Gherardini family’s] descendants, Lisa Gherardini, daughter of Vignamaggio owner Anton Maria and wife of Florentine notable Francesco del Giocondo, is the model for Leonardo’s enigmatic painting Monna Lisa.”

“Samsung has even teamed up with The Louvre to offer a collection of artwork from the world’s most famous gallery – and yes, that means you can display a digital version of the Monna Lisa on your Frame TV.”

CEFR level