Mona Makes Art & Learning Happen

Have you ever gazed at Leonardo's portrait of Mona Lisa and wondered why is she smiling?
Could it be she has a secret?
Who was the lady Leonardo da Vinci painted?

Did he have special friendship with her? Was she part of his family? These question have puzzled adults for over 500 years.

Take a look at what one woman investigator at Bell Labs, Lillian Schwartz. She has suggested one way of answering these questions. /13681/data/link2.htm that Leonardo was painting himself.

If you speak Spanish or Russian, there are translations available.

Lillian's answers to these questions are called a theory. What do you think about her theory? Are these good answers to the questions?

As part of our site's adventure we want to hear from you.

Become A Mona Mystery solver yourself. Comment on Lillian's theory or write your own answers as to why Mona Lisa is smiling.
Sign the guestbook to share your ideas with kids, adults, scientists, writers and historians.

But Lillian wasn't the only person to come up with a theory about Mona's identity. Rina de Firenze, an Italian writer, had a dream that Leonardo was painting his mother Caterina. She woke from her dream and wrote a book
The Mystery of Mona Lisa.

How do you react to Rina's theory? If Mona were Leonardo's mother, would they have the same eye color? Do you have the same eye color as your parents?

Have you looked closely at the portrait of Mona Lisa? /13681/data/nyc/mona.htm
What is the color of her eyes? It takes a scientist to begin to answer this question.

This kind of scientist answer to this question has a special name.
It is called scientific inquiry. The High School students in John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx with their partners in Borlange Sweden had to study this scientific way of answering this question about her eyes. Here is what they found out. /13681/data/science.htm

You've read and seen how a scientist, author and scientific investigators would answer these 500 year old questions about Mona. Why keep Mona magic secret to yourself?

Share it with a friend with a new Millennium Musical Postcard.
You don't need a stamp.

Before you leave The Mona Magic Kingdom take time to listen to Leonardo music and check out his Bronze Horse and the Mona Lisa Bridge.

You've just glimpsed a few of the infinite ( a huge number ) of ideas, games, quizzes and Student Art Galleries that make up Mona's Magic.

Use the Mona Lisa Navigator to help you get around.

Here is the password. /13681/data/davin2.shtml

Drop by as often as you like and bring your friends !