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The Secret History of the Mona Lisa

YOUR MISSION:  As you read, use scale factors to find the dimensions of the artworks by Leonardo da Vinci, including his masterpiece the Mona Lisa. Leonardo was one of the most famous painters, inventors, and thinkers of the European Renaissance. This movement in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries celebrated art, literature, and science. Use the online answer sheet to record your answers. 

March 2023
By Jennifer Hackett - Illustrated by Chris Schweizer

USING SCALE FACTORS

Artists, like Leonardo, often use scale factors in their illustrations to re-create people and scenes on different sized canvases without distorting them. A scale factor is a ratio that compares the sizes of two objects that are in proportion.

Before the Mona Lisa, Leonardo painted several portraits. Lady with an Ermine is 21 inches tall and 15 inches wide. If Leonardo wanted to enlarge this painting using a scale factor of 1:3, what would its new dimensions be?


Leonardo’s assistant was most likely the model for Portrait of a Musician. The scale factor from the painting to real life is 4:5. The figure in the painting measures 15 inches from the waist up. What’s this measurement in real life?


Another of Leonardo’s masterworks is the mural The Last Supper. The scale factor from one of Leonardo’s sketches to the final mural is 3:100. The final mural is 346 inches wide and 181 inches tall. What were the dimensions of the sketch?


A. The Mona Lisa is a painting of Lisa del Giocondo. In one sketch, Leonardo used a scale factor from the sketch to real life of about 1:5. If her face was 8 inches long, how long was it in the sketch?


B. Leonardo did another sketch of Lisa del Giocondo while she was standing using the same scale factor. This sketch of her measured about 13 inches tall. How tall was Lisa del Giocondo?


A. Mona Lisa is 30 inches tall and 21 inches wide. Raphael, another Renaissance artist, made a sketch of the Mona Lisa using a scale factor of 1:3 from the sketch to the painting. What were the dimensions of Raphael’s sketch?


B. Raphael likely used this sketch as the basis for his painting Young Woman with Unicorn, which is 26 inches tall. What scale factor did he use to scale up his sketch for this painting?


If you wanted to draw your own version of the Mona Lisa on a piece of paper that’s 10 inches tall, what scale factor would you use?


Meet the Mona Lisa

Today the Mona Lisa is on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Millions of tourists visit Paris each year to catch a glimpse of it. Learn more fun facts about this masterpiece!

Iain Masterton/Alamy Stock Photo (The Louvre); Chris Radburn/PA Wire/AP Images (painting)

28
Number of months the Mona Lisa remained missing after it was stolen in 1911. One of the thieves tried to sell it—and was caught!

 

5
Number of times the Mona Lisa has been attacked while on display. That’s why it’s behind bulletproof glass for its protection!

 

$870,000,000
Insurance valuation of the Mona Lisa—the highest for an artwork. But it’s actually considered irreplaceable.

 

30 seconds
Amount of time each visitor is allowed to look at the painting, to prevent crowding.

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