Comparative Analysis of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Frida Kahlo's Self-Portrait

Throughout history and its origin since when it first started, art has been the way of expressing creativity, uniqueness, and above all skills using the imagination of the human brain. For example, many painters would portray their feelings on a blank canvas while others would utilize sculptures in order to communicate those feelings that they are also feeling while creating this beautiful job. These masterpieces are to be appreciated primarily for their beauty and emotional power that they have conveyed throughout many history books and museums around the world. As for the painters Leonardo Da Vinci and Frida Kahlo, they have many differences and limited similarities when it comes to their involvement in technique, points of view, and interpretations.

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

The Mona Lisa or also called La Gioconda presents a woman in half-body portrait, which has as a background of a landscape somewhere in Italy. The point of view in which she is positioned, mostly turned toward the viewers, puts aside the and ignores how many painters during the renaissance era used to paint because they didn't know how to use dimensions or even lighting when it came to painting people. However, this new way of adding depth to the painting highly affected the 21 century because The Mona Lisa became a role model in the eyes of many painters.

The Mona Lisa,’s softly depicted face shows Leonardo’s skillful handling of “sfumato and reveals his understanding of the articulations under her skin”. (Definition of Art By Lexico) Through patience and care Leonardo managed to delineate the Gioconda's hair to perfection. On the other hand, he also gives the veil a sense of personification and brings it to life even though it is in a painting. The sense of overall harmony achieved in the painting is especially noticeable in her faint smile that reflects ‘Leonardo’s idea of a link connecting humanity and nature’ and somehow it reflects his personality as well. For DaVinci, many future painters will look up to The Mona Lisa for its simplicity and beauty. (Mona Lisa Painting) Although Leonardo Da Vinci painted more in a naturalistic and realistic manner throughout most of Europe during the Renaissance period to fabricate the infamous Mona Lisa, Frida Kahlo’s use of painting surrealism was extremely affected ever since the early ‘1920s in Paris’.

Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser

Moreover, like many of Frida Kahlo’s self portrait, her facial expressions stay the same throughout the many collections that she has painted in her lifetime. In the self portrait that she dedicated to Dr. Eloesser who was her doctor at that time, conveys an earring she wore in the form of a hand were a gift from Pablo Picasso whom she met while in Paris. The hand on the banderole as well as on the earrings, represents something in the Mexican culture called 'milagros.' The necklace of the many rose thorns encapsulating her neck represents how the doctor saved her because she was constantly in pain. There is no one that will ever remove that horrible time of sadness that consumed her body. The thorns also represent a chain as if she was trapped in the never ending cycle of pain and how she had no savior until the famous Dr. Eloesser saved her from her misery. 'This painting may have been a 'Thank You' gift for Dr. Eloesser's efforts' in helping her with the injury because he liberated her soul, spirit, and mind from the pain.

The naturalistic pattern in Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser are admired by the use of the mexican culture and in some mexican influenced locations since Frida Kahlo is mexican.The combination of colors throughout her painting tends to be very unusual in the way she usually portrays her ability because in most of her painting they are bright and scandalous colors while in this painting the only colorful object in the painting is her flower crown. Nevertheless, this is also due to the unusual combinations that are seen in nature. Even though the title of the painting is known as Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser, the original title was ‘Autorretrato Dedicado al Dr Eloesser’. (Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser)

Due to Da Vinici’s use of the new pose that was contradicting and ignoring the rest of the paintings during the Renaissance period, Frida Kahlo incorporated that technique later on in the 1920s for the self portrait dedicated to Dr Eloesser. Beside Da Vinci’s composition, Frida Kahlo included a sense of happiness just like in the Mona Lisa showing off her naturalistic smile. Through the use of pathos in both of the paintings, Da Vinci Conveys satisfaction with The Mona Lisa because of the rare noticeable smile on her face. While on the other hand, Kahlo’s use of flowers is a form of gratitude toward the doctor who saved her life and who took away her suffering.

In Da Vinci’s painting, it ranged from oil on canvas, chalk, oil on wood, and fresco. Meanwhile, Kahlo utilized oil paint on her canvas. He was very open to including different and new techniques within his artwork. The Mona Lisa was based on the use of many shapes: such as pyramids and circles. This event was to help get the placement right and to also make the images look more aesthetically pleasing to the human eye.

Furthermore, due to the Da Vinci’s use of technological advancements during his time, represented a change in what people believed they could do with their blank canvases. This event started to move the crowd and spread the word on how new ways of painting were discovered by the infamous Leonardo Da Vinci. It is the use of logos because the painter is using his technique to persuade other painters in following his footsteps through art and images. Similarly to The Mona Lisa, Kahlo’s work of art to Dr. Eleosser demonstrates a sense of persuasion as well due to its enchanting colours and captivating sense of expressions.

In conclusion, despite the differences and similarities in the two paintings, both of them are masterpieces that were created from amazing painters.

References

1. Broude, N., & Garrard, M. (Eds.). (2012). Reclaiming female agency: Feminist art history after postmodernism. University of California Press.
2. Herrera, H. (2002). Frida: A biography of Frida Kahlo. HarperCollins Publishers.
3. Kemp, M. (2004). Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man. Oxford University Press.
4. Sassoon, D. (2018). Mona Lisa: The People and the Painting. HarperCollins.
5. Solomon-Godeau, A. (1991). Frida Kahlo: Still a Woman. Art in America, 79(11), 108-115.