Prof Practice 6: Research & referencing for the ESSAY Question

Content: Plan for Research on essay question

• The question
• Planning your research
• Referencing: Academic integrity
• Prep task

My chosen subject is The Mona Lisa
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
It was painted in his studio in Florence, Italy and now resides in the Louvre museum, Paris.
 
In the book ' Mona Lisa the picture and the Myth ' by Roy McMullen I read that much of the earliest information on this subject comes from Giorgio Vasari's biography published thirty-one years after the artist's death as part of the author's best-selling 'Lives of the Most Excellent painters, Sculptors and Architects'.

I looked up the website of the Louvre for more information on the Mona Lisa
http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mona-lisa-%E2%80%93-portrait-lisa-gherardini-wife-francesco-del-giocondo

It was painted between 1503-1506.
It is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco Giocondo, a cloth merchant.
 There is a bibliography on the website which might be useful to research.

 Whilst there are a number of  questions around this subject like  the identity of the sitter, who commissioned it, why it took so long for da Vinci to complete this painting, the explanation of the Gioconda smile, the landscape in the background or how it came in the possession of Francis 1, I am going to look at the enigmatic smile depicted in this painting.


 This image is taken from the following website:
http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Mona-Lisa.html