"Did a blurred view of the moon influence the smile of the Mona Lisa?" asks artist David Dodson.
The answer is yes! We put together this animation to show how the craters of a blurry harvest moon perfectly line up with the eyes, nose, cheek bones, and enigmatic smile of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
Ronan suggests, "So maybe the real question is ... what is the moon smiling at, eh?"
Derek Bair writes:
Normally I would think this would be a little bit too far fetched to believe but curiously before I saw this picture and read about it, I had thought something similar. On my way up to Vegas one time it was a full moon but I could see it during the day. I thought the craters and things reminded me of a face of a sad woman! Ever since then I would always see the same face on the moon. This is actually very possible, since Da Vinci said to make glasses to see the moon closer - so he was definitely looking at the moon. Mona=Moon? I don't know but I thought this was interesting!
Sara Soares writes:
Leonardo was such a special creature, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the moon was his inspiration. Amazing post BTW
Angela Bou Kheir writes:
Omg! I saw the moon last night and had never thought about it before. This is the first time to see your post. But I was thinking the same thing. Actually, Moon is "Luna" in Italian, but I was thinking he was playing with the words. I don't know, maybe Lona Misa? That's really far-fetched, but I know back then to paint a smile was "provocative" in that time, and they don't know who that picture was based on. Leonardo was an out of the box thinker and if there is a possibility that's a self portrait of him, I think there is a possibility that it's the moon he drew.
