Who is Mona Lisa?
Many questions arose over the years as to the true identity of the woman in the portrait. The Italians call her La Gioconda, which means “the lighthearted woman.” The French version, La Joconde, carries a similar meaning, provoking many thoughts and theories about the Mona Lisa. Most experts now believe that she is Lisa del Giocondo, the third wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo.
How Does She Smile?
The enigmatic smile of the woman in the painting has been the source of inspiration for many and a cause for desperation in others. In 1852, Luc Maspero, a French artist, jumped four floors to his death from a hotel room in Paris. His suicide note explained that he preferred death after years of struggling to understand the mystery behind the woman’s smile.
When discussing the mystery behind the smile, art experts often refer to a painting technique called sfumato, which was developed by Da Vinci. In Italian, sfumato means “vanished” or “smoky,” implying that the portrait is ambiguous and blurry, leaving its interpretation to the viewer’s imagination. This technique uses a subtle blend of tones and colors to produce the illusion of form, depth and volume.
The human eye consists of two regions: the fovea, or central area, and the surrounding peripheral area. The fovea recognizes details and colors and reads fine print, and the peripheral area identifies motion, shadows and black and white. When a person looks at the painting, the fovea focuses on her eyes, leaving the peripheral area on her mouth. Peripheral vision is less accurate and does not pick up details, so the shadows in her cheekbones augment the curvature of her smile.
When the viewer looks directly at the woman’s mouth, however, the fovea does not pick up the shadows, and the portrait no longer appears to be smiling. Therefore, the appearance and disappearance of her smile really is an attribute of viewers’ vision. This is one of the reasons why the painting has remained an enigma to art enthusiasts and perhaps the most famous painting in the world.
Monday, May 14 Spelling quiz See Pbk p. 51 www.spellingcity.com
Tuesday, May 15 Reading Comprehension Classwork for a grade (Leonardo´s Horse). Looking for information.
Students will have to find answers for questions in a paragraph about the story.
Wednesday, May 16 Grammar quiz on Phrases/Clauses, Dependent/ Independent clauses. See notebook, Language book p. 320-325, Write Source p. 432, 564-565
http://www.myschoolhouse.com/courses/O/1/56.asp
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/clauses_ex1.htm
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/indep_clause_quiz.htm
http://betterlesson.com/document/18250/independent-dependent-clause-worksheets
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Thursday, May 3 Grammar quiz on Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases. See notebook, Write Source p. 416, 436, and 599. language book p. 312-317, Practice book p. 47
http://www.better-english.com/grammar/prepositions.htm
http://www.grammaruntied.com/prepositions/preppractice.html
http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz98bck.htm
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/prepositions
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/preposition_quiz1.htm
Friday, may 4 Reading quiz on When Wasington Crossed the Delaware. It will be an open book project. You MUST study the vocabulary and practice the Sequence Skill.
http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/sequence/
