Tag Archive for: Xzibit

Hi Folks!

The Mona Lisa is definitely the most known and possibly the most photographed work of art in the world. About 6 million people admire the painting at the Louvre each year. So, I would guess that each visitor takes four photos of the painting on an average. Every fourth photo is probably a selfie totaling some 6 million selfies of Mona Lisa. There’s been some debate on the subject of the painting. The list of the possible models portrayed in the painting is long. However, it has recently become evident that the painting is a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. To come to any other conclusion would require ignoring the fact that Leonardo had invented a selfie stick before painting Mona Lisa.

Based on the recently discovered drawings it is clear that Leonardo had experimented with several designs for a selfie stick. Unfortunately none of the prototypes were preserved. The design in the adjacent drawing would probably have been feasible during his lifetime. It is likely that Leonardo has used a similar selfie stick for painting Mona Lisa. Although it is still to some extent unclear to the researchers how the selfie stick functioned.

I guess Leonardo’s idea was that a paint brush would be installed through the loops in the middle as the transverse rails held a mirror glass. The use of a selfie stick affected in a soft blending in the portrait, which is actually the reason why the smile on Leonardo’s face is seen mysterious.

Leonardo da Vinci (and Xzibit) would see some irony in the fact that people are willing to stand hours in line to have an opportunity to take a selfie of a selfie.

– Gart

Leonardo da Vinci [Public domain]