The Mona Lisa has hypnotized the world with her soul-piercing gaze and enigmatic smile. But not many know that Leonardo da Vinci created an entirely new art technique to achieve the dreamy ambiance the piece is famous for. Sfumato, which means “smoked off” or “blurry” in Italian, is a term introduced by the great master inspired by his observations of the perspective and experiments with the camera obscura. Let’s dive into the investigation of da Vinci’s art technique and, possibly, get closer to unraveling the secrets of his masterpieces.
Sfumato: Investigating Leonardo Da Vinci’s Art Technique
If you tear your eyes away from the gaze of the Mona Lisa and pay attention to the background of the painting, you will see that the landscape is enveloped in a haze of some sort. That is a perfect example of the application of the sfumato technique. Da Vinci described it in his writing as “without boundaries or limits, in the way of smoke or outside of the focal plane.” By masterfully applying pigment in thin, almost transparent layers, he created a smooth, gentle transition between colors, creating a mist-like effect.
A revolutionary scientist with a great interest in optics, Leonardo was the first to use the term “aerial perspective” to explain the difference in contrast between close-by and far-away objects. He often used sfumato to add depth to his pieces but began to use it to create atmospheric effects and to give his subjects a more enigmatic and enchanted look in the later years of his life. That is visible in the rendering of the Mona Lisa’s face: the shadows in the creases of her eyes are soft, and her face is gently engulfed by shadows that gradually give way to light in the center.
The studies conducted in 2010 by the scientist Philippe Walter and his team in Paris showed there were no visible brushstrokes anywhere on the painting’s surface. Da Vinci must have perfected sfumato to a point where no one can tell how he did it.
Da Vinci’s art technique remains one of the most mysterious features of the Mona Lisa. While scientific research keeps progressing at impressive speeds, some secrets are yet to be uncovered.
