The Aspen Institute

The Mona Lisa began life in an orthodox manner, as a commissioned portrait of a bourgeois woman. From there, as confirmed by the technical examinations, it evolved into a “universal picture” embodying Leonardo’s science of art – optics, geology, anatomy, psychology, and also expressing the notion of the “beloved lady” as evoked in poetry from Dante onwards. We will explore the origin, details, and universal reaction to this historic work.