Mona Lisa's Florence

Saving "Mona Lisa"

A new one-hour French documentary, “The Man Who Saved the Louvre,” which won the Emmy Award 2015 in the Arts Programming, weaves archival footage with animation to tell the story of a daring rescue on the eve of WW II. Read more →

MONA LISA "Seduces" India

Ms. Hales's book is a master class for journalists, instructing them on the nature and extent of research necessary to write a book of such ambition. Its lucid narrative transports the reader to 15th century Florence under the sway of the Medicis, the bankers of Europe's emperors who bankrolled the Italian Renaissance; the Pazzi conspiracy; the threat of a joint invasion by the Papal and Neapolitan armies; its streets, shops, markets, churches and artists' workshops where an adolescent da Vinci mastered the sfumato technique. Read more →

MONA LISA on The Iceberg Project's Podcast

In this podcast, I chat with Dianne Hales, author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language and Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered. We discuss her new book Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered and how her book research expanded her vocabulary and love for the Italian language. Read more →

Now in Paperback!

In spite of the Mona Lisa's international fame, the life and times of the portrait’s subject have largely remained a mystery —until now. In MONA LISA: A Life Discovered, now available in paperback (Simon & Schuster, August 2015, $16.00), award-winning author Dianne Hales finally reveals the woman behind the iconic smile. Read more →

"Seeing" the Prada's MONA LISA

The common sign "Please do not touch the art" might be a command for many museum visitors, but Madrid’s famous Museo del Prado is changing that with an exhibit in which visitors are encouraged to get hands-on with famous artworks, such as the Mona Lisa. Read more →

MONA LISA "LIVE"

More than 500 years after its creation, Leonardo’s portrait of Mona Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo is coming to digital life. Read more →

Is that you, Mona Lisa?

More than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci began his portrait of Mona (Madame) Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo in Florence. The maestro understood that paintings endured long after human life ends, but he could never have anticipated that his depiction of a Renaissance wife and mother would inspire countless imitations over the centuries. Read more →

Leonardo and Mona Lisa in New England

When I lived in Northampton, Mass., decades ago, I would make regular pilgrimages to Boston, never failing to visit the wonderful collections at the Museum of Fine Arts. In the years since, both Boston and the MFA have bloomed. It was a joy to return to both—and an honor to present MONA LISA: A Life Discovered as part of an exquisite exhibition, “Leonardo and the Idea of Beauty,” featuring many of his most admired drawings as well as works by his contemporary and rival Michelangelo. Read more →

Leonardo's Unlikely Home in Florence

For centuries Florence welcomed each new year, not on the first of January, but on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation. This holy day celebrates the Angel Gabriel’s descent from heaven to announce to a teenage girl in Nazareth that God had chosen her to be the mother of His son. With Mary’s acceptance of divine will, the Holy Spirit “moved in her womb,” and nine months later Jesus Christ was born. Read more →

Mona Lisa, the Opera

Recently I came across a New York Times review of another work: Mona Lisa, by the German composer Max von Schillings. The theft of the portrait from the Louvre in 1911 had transformed Leonardo’s lady into the most wanted—and written about—woman in the world.In the spring of 1913—months before the painting’s recovery—Beatrice von Dovsky presented a libretto to von Schillings, who composed the opera during his military duty as a medical soldier in France and Belgium. Read more →