Buongiorno, Lisa (It.) — Hello, Lisa!

— Lisa, child, listen to your grandfather, — Marietto's voice was soft, — you are already 15 years old and it's time to think about the future. Everyone knows about your relationship with Signor Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, and that you were even pregnant by him. But this family was expelled from the Florentine Republic, and you need to arrange your life. I managed to convince a respected man, Signor Francesco del Giocondo, to marry you. You are a representative of a noble Neapolitan family, but unfortunately impoverished, and your father can only give a modest inheritance for you - just a small farm and a mere 170 gold coins (florins). And Signor Francesco successfully trades in fabrics and is quite rich, so money doesn't interest him. He was widowed for the second time, — the grandfather sighed (Francesco had been married to Marietto's daughter, by whom he had a son), — so he is available now.

— But he's so old, — Lisa wrinkled her forehead, — he's almost 30 years old.

— That's alright, — Marietto raised a finger, — on the other hand, you won't live in poverty with him.

— Lisa di Antonio Maria di Noldo Gherardini, — the priest pronounced solemnly, — do you of your own free will marry Signor Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo?

— Yes, — the bride whispered, — of my own free will. The groom also answered in the affirmative. On March 5, 1495, at 12:40, Lisa Gherardini became Signora Lisa del Giocondo!

— Respected Signor Leonardo, — Francesco sat in the armchair next to the artist, — I am glad to see you in my home. I bought it a year ago and importantly, it is located near my old house on via della Stufa. Look at the landscape opening up from this balcony, — he pointed his hand and smiled, — beautiful, isn't it? I am sure, as an artist, you will appreciate this. So, now to the point. Pouring wine into the glasses, he continued:

— I want to order a portrait of my wife, Donna Lisa, from you. There are many reasons for this. We have been happily married for ten years now, she gave me a son, besides this I want to celebrate the purchase of a new house and, of course, the burning desire to have a portrait of my beloved wife. I want to explain why I turned to you specifically. You are a famous artist, and you have known my wife since childhood (da Vinci's father's house was next to Lisa's parents' house). Pouring more wine into the glasses, he continued, — you know that I trade in silk and fabrics. Soon I will have to leave for a large batch of goods to Persia and the trip may drag on for several months. I am afraid that in my absence, my spouse will be sad, bored, because she is completely unadapted to life, very modest and vulnerable. You work on your paintings with special care, without rushing, which attracts me. I wouldn't want my spouse to be sad, so I ask you to use this time to paint the portrait. The house is entirely at your disposal. The price does not matter.

— I will think about it, — Leonardo closed his eyes, — I'll think.

— No, no, — Lisa said decisively, — I beg you, Maestro, I want to pose here, on the loggia, the landscape is very important to me. Two months later.

— So tell Signor Chianti, — Lisa said firmly, looking at the notary, — the house costs 1490 florins and I won't drop the price. Signor Leonardo, — she turned to da Vinci, — can we temporarily interrupt our work?

— I want to note, — the artist shrugged his shoulders, — I haven't finished the work on the portrait, only sketched the landscape.

— It doesn't matter, Signor da Vinci, — Lisa smiled, — the landscape is enough for now. I hope that the beautiful view of our surroundings will help me sell the house.

— As far as I know, Signor Chianti has never been to our parts, — she turned to the notary, — so you will show him the surroundings, — and pointed to the canvas, — they are perfectly visible here and in a week I wait for you with an answer and the painting. Signor da Vinci must finish the work. The notary bowed and took his leave.

— Well then, — throwing the finest black veil over her head, she asked the artist, — are we taking a break from work?

— By no means, — da Vinci set a sheet of paper on the easel, — we will continue working. I will draw your veil. A month later.

— No!

— Lisa frowned and looking at her mother, firmly said, — I must do this. I have a happy marriage, but memories haunt me. The Medici family has returned to Florence from exile and I must see Giuliano. Maestro!

— she raised her eyes to da Vinci, — circumstances force me to leave you for a few days, but I hope you will treat this with understanding, — and nodding her head she left the balcony.

— Yes, — watching her go, the Master whispered thoughtfully, — "Unadapted to life, will be bored"... well-well, the Lord's ways are mysterious, Signor Francesco.... Although... although.. But this is a new reading, — his face brightening, Leonardo suddenly exclaimed, — this is what I was looking for! The "IMAGE"! Francesco, Salai!

— da Vinci shouted excitedly to his students, — prepare the easels. Signora Lucrezia!

— he turned to Lisa's mother, — since your daughter is temporarily absent, I ask you to take her place, — and pointed to the standing armchair, — we are going to work.

— Teacher!

— Francesco said wearily, wiping his paint-stained hands, explain, I beg you, what does this mean? During Mona Lisa's absence, for days on end from morning till night we have been painting portraits of some incomprehensible people. Well, okay - her mother, similar features, I can still understand that. But, why are we drawing some wandering musicians, who, on your orders, entertained Signora Giocondo with their music during the sessions? And why did you need to draw portraits of a holy fool, this mentally ill man and some toothless old woman, who were brought by your order from the local market?

— Continue, Francesco, — the master went to the balcony parapet and thoughtfully looked into the distance, — what else do you want to know.

— Drawing Salai dressed in women's clothes (Gian Giacomo Caprotti - the artist's student and lover), — the student shrugged his shoulders, — this is also understandable to me: pleasant features, a beautiful figure. But why did we draw a portrait of Caterina Sforza, the most dissolute woman in the city? We have dozens of sketches and drawings of these strange people. What are you trying to see? What's the secret, teacher?

— Excuse me Master, — said Salai walking up, — but this question torments me too.

— Dear Francesco and Salai, — da Vinci walked right up to the students and laid his hands on their shoulders, — you have been working with me for more than a year and have learned a lot. You are very talented and will become wonderful artists. I passed on to you my knowledge, experience, manner and technique of painting. But, there is something you must arrive at yourselves. You must find your own feeling of the "IMAGE" and only then will you become "Great Masters". This feeling is individual and you can only come to it yourself. I walked towards it all my life and now, finally, I have found this "IMAGE"! An "Image", through which I will be able to convey my thoughts, doubts, victories and defeats. It will be MY secret, a secret cipher.

— Teacher!

— Salai asked quietly, — and, who are you addressing? Who should decipher your message?

— Descendants, my boy, — da Vinci answered thoughtfully, — generations of people who will live after us. They have a big job ahead and if they figure it out, they will understand a lot and, I hope, the world will become better.

— Signor Leonardo, — examining the painting, Francesco frowned, — I am extremely disappointed. This does not depict my wife, — he said irritably, — I do not recognize her. This is a strange woman. Where is the meekness, submission inherent in my spouse, — he sighed, — in the end, where is the yearning for her husband? I was absent for more than half a year, and I don't see sadness in her eyes. On the contrary, she is smiling! Why is she smiling like that? This thrown-on black veil? It's an attribute of widowhood, but I'm still alive! No, Signor Leonardo, — he said irritably, — you worked a lot, spent two years on the work and I am very sorry, but I won't take the portrait. This painting will not hang in my house. Be so kind as to repaint it.

— Yes, Signor Francesco del Giocondo, — the old man whispered into his gray beard, carefully hugging the canvas-wrapped painting, slowly trudging across the bridge over the Arno river, which had served as a background for him while painting the "Mona Lisa" for two years, — you are right, it will not hang in your house. I will not repaint the portrait, but I have yet to "breathe" life into this "IMAGE". And I don't want to part with her, and, indeed, I won't be able to. Leonardo didn't give the painting to the client. For 14 years, almost until his very death, the great Master did not part with his "Gioconda", "breathing life" into the "IMAGE" he created, which he could not and would not share with anyone. He felt a special attachment to the painting and having left Italy for France at an elderly age, surrounded by his sketches and his students' drawings, fanatically continued working on the portrait. Gradually, the features of Lisa's mother - Signora Lucrezia, wandering musicians, other characters who had "passed" through the balcony of Signor de Giocondo's house began to come alive on the canvas. Sometimes Leonardo sat for a long time in front of a large Venetian mirror, shifting his gaze from his reflection to the painting hanging nearby, making new sketches and changing something in the old ones. He lived in his own world, understandable only to him, and created his own "IMAGE", known only to him. Age took its toll, strength left the Master, his eyesight failed, however, under a magnifying glass, he continued to "breathe life" into the "IMAGE", scrupulously applying microscopic strokes measuring 1/20-1/40 mm to the painting. He invented and applied a special "Sfumato" technique — a principle of scattering and the absence of clear boundaries between objects. This is a special pictorial technique when paints are applied layer by layer and allow to create an atmospheric perspective in the painting. This creates an optical illusion and shadows are to blame for this, therefore the expression of the model's face constantly changes and every day "Gioconda" looked at him differently, sometimes smirking, sometimes smiling with her enigmatic smile. His last years he lived in his studio in Clos Lucé, not far from the royal castle of Amboise. Leonardo had weakened greatly, his right arm was paralyzed, but, being left-handed from birth, he fanatically continued working. He didn't suffer from loneliness, he was busy with work, because next to him, always, was his "Mona Lisa", so dear and close, and who turned out to be the only witness to how the Master applied the last stroke of paint to the "Image" he created! "Arrivederci, Lisa" (Goodbye, Lisa), — the genius whispered, — "Vivi per secoli! Trasmettere il mio messaggio ai posteri" (Live for centuries! Convey my message to descendants), — and closed his eyes. Centuries passed, and interest in the "Mona Lisa" only grew. Thousands of studies of the painting have been made and according to the versions of various medical luminaries, the woman depicted on the canvas suffered from a mass of severe illnesses:

— Alopecia (hair loss).

— High blood cholesterol levels.

— Exposure of the necks of the teeth, their loosening and loss.

— Alcoholism.

— Parkinson's disease.

— Lipoma (benign fatty tumor on the right arm).

— Strabismus.

— Cataract and heterochromia of the iris (different colored eyes).

— Asthma. Besides this, in the opinion of a Danish doctor, there was:

— Congenital facial paralysis, and the asymmetrical smile indicates an abnormality in the psyche, up to idiocy. Also, according to other researchers, one can add:

— Hypothyroidism (lack of thyroid hormones).

— Syphilis. It must be admitted that the list of "diseases" is quite impressive and it's hard to imagine that a "poor woman", with such a "bouquet" of sores, given the not very high level of medicine in the 16th century, managed to give birth to 6 children and live to a quite solid 63 years of age for those times. Besides doctors, art historians made their "feasible contribution". A solid organization - the "Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France", where a series of laboratory tests of the painting were conducted using infrared reflectography, X-ray microfluorescence analysis, a color and three-dimensional laser scanner, came to the conclusion: "It can be assumed that 'Gioconda's' SMILE can be explained by the pleasure of listening to music during the sessions, as a result of the artist's trick, who surrounded the model with musicians, singers and jesters". A serious conclusion, isn't it? The American artist and graphics consultant Lillian Schwartz did not investigate "Gioconda's" SMILE, but based on the image of the model's face, claims: "Mona Lisa" is a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. The art historian Silvano Vincenti disagrees with her, confident that the painting depicts not a woman, but a youth in a woman's dress and, most likely, it's Salai, the Master's lover and student. Some researchers believe that the lack of facial hair are signs of a woman of a certain occupation, that is, an Italian courtesan. Representatives of the oldest profession, in those times, preferred to bleach their eyelashes and eyebrows, or even completely get rid of them, so that their gaze would be more seductive. Late at night da Vinci was sitting in front of a large Venetian mirror in his studio. Behind the armchair, on the easel, stood his beloved "Mona Lisa". Two burning candles on the sides of the mirror and two near the painting gave a dim illumination to the face of an elderly man with a thick beard, reflecting a flickering light on the visage of the smiling "Gioconda".

— Yes, — peering into his reflection, the Master sadly shook his head, — you are old already, Leonardo, old and feeble. Eyes see poorly, the body doesn't obey and the time has come to finish my life's journey. And you, girl, — he shifted his gaze to the painting and smiled, — will forever remain young and beautiful, because paintings do not age, and you are a symbol of life, you are life itself, the best of what I have created, the crown of my life's path, my soul. And it's time for me to sum up. Taking a sip of wine from his goblet, he continued:

— I, the illegitimate son of a peasant woman, did not live my life in vain and can peacefully depart for a better world. God fashioned Eve from Adam's rib, and I created you out of my consciousness. I always worked a lot, everything was interesting to me. And all my life I searched, searched for the "IDEAL", this notorious "Completeness of form and content". Searched and couldn't find it! I have students, they call me "Maestro", kings buy my works, I am respected in the art world. But, no one knows about my agonizing search for the "IDEAL". And here, — Leonardo smiled, — a whim of fate, an order for your portrait from Signor Francesco del Giocondo. I didn't want to take on this work, but your husband was persistent and I agreed. I worked as usual, "sketched" the portrait, true, your request to pay attention to the landscape beyond the balcony surprised me a little. And only after the notary's visit did I understand why you needed this. My surprise knew no bounds, — da Vinci turned to the painting and looked the smiling Lisa in the eyes, — you used the painting to sell your house! The beautiful surroundings increased the selling price! Simple and brilliant! Oh, Signor Francesco, I thought, as you told me: "My wife is completely unadapted to life?", — Leonardo smiled and pouring some wine, sat in the armchair again, — well, well! And, suddenly, it dawned on me! Here it is, the "Ideal" — "Completeness of form and content"! On the one hand: a woman completely unadapted to life, on the other - firmness of character, clarity of thought and business acumen. Yin-Yang, plus-minus! I realized that I found what I was looking for. And when you returned after conversing with Signor Giuliano di Lorenzo, your first love, — he turned to the painting again, — and I saw your eyes, suddenly, I realized that I had found the "Ideal Image". I already knew how to paint, — da Vinci closed his eyes, — and whom to paint. I repainted the picture several times, applying new layers of paint over previous ones, altering and supplementing your image. This is not a mirror "Portrait of Madam Lisa del Giocondo", although that is exactly how the official title of the painting sounds, but a collective image - an image showing the diversity of life in all its manifestations. No wonder, — the Master smirked, — that your husband, Signor Francesco, didn't recognize you in the painting and refused to accept the work. Although..., I wouldn't have given it away anyway, — he turned to Lisa again, — after all, you are my life, my child, my thread to the future. For a long 14 years I created you. The Lord created man in his "Image and likeness", — Leonardo closed his eyes, — and I created you in the image of "MAN". Yes, — the Maestro stared intently at the painting, — an ordinary person, with all his weaknesses and vices. All the jesters and wandering musicians I invited, crazy slum dwellers and fallen women, everyone who surrounded you in the process of work, are "accomplices" of your image. I put into your features the beauty of youth and the frailty of old age, purity and vice, chastity and promiscuity, loyalty and betrayal, naivety and calculation, tenderness and cruelty, intelligence and stupidity, clarity of thought and confused consciousness, an ironic smile and a contemptuous grimace. In this portrait, the features of a young woman and a toothless old woman, musicians and jesters, enthusiastic youths and vicious women, artists and psychopaths mixed together. I breathed masculine and feminine principles into your image, the features of our mothers and, even.... my own image. I BREATHED LIFE INTO YOU... You are the only witness to my grueling labor and saw how, under a magnifying glass, I scrupulously applied microscopic strokes, creating an "optical illusion" due to shadows. I managed to do this and I called this technique - the "Sfumato" effect. You will look at people with their eyes and everyone will see something personal in your image, what is closest to them - they will see THEMSELVES!!! The Great Master's eyes grew moist.

— Lisa, child, — Leonardo whispered, — this is my secret. I bless you on a long, difficult journey and hope that you will succeed in conveying this to descendants. Da Vinci left his legacy to his student - Francesco Melzi, from whom the King of France François bought the "Mona Lisa" for fabulous money for those times - 4000 gold florins and exhibited the painting in Fontainebleau, then "Gioconda" hung in the "Golden Room" of Anne of Austria, but Louis XIV returned the painting to Paris to the Palace of Versailles, from where Napoleon took it. At first it was in his bedroom in the Tuileries Palace, then in Josephine's bedroom and only in 1802 settled in the Louvre. The Maestro's prophecy came true. For over 500 years now, this modest woman, unremarkable during her lifetime, has been looking from the wall of the most famous museum in the world at millions of descendants walking past her gaze (20 thousand a day), smiling her enigmatic smile at everyone, moreover, differently to everyone. What is this - the "Sfumato" effect, or, as her creator predicted: "In the face of the 'Mona Lisa', every person will see THEMSELVES"?! Maybe, this is the secret of the Great Master Maestro Leonardo, his mysterious cipher? Lisa lived in a happy marriage for many years, gave birth to six children, survived the death of her daughter and passed away in the convent of Saint Ursula at the age of 63, where she was buried. Although..... No! No! I disagree. As long as Leonardo's brilliant creation "Mona Lisa" exists — she is alive, she is immortal! Come to the Louvre, go into the personal hall of the "Gioconda", look into her eyes and say quietly: "Buongiorno, Lisa"! And she will smile at you with her enigmatic smile. Specifically at YOU! P. S. A few words from the author. I don't know what prompted me to write this essay. I have never been an art connoisseur, had a rather superficial idea of the work of even such a titan as Leonardo da Vinci and knew very little about the history of the creation of the "Gioconda". But one night I dreamed of the "Mona Lisa" and, I don't know why, I wanted to get to know her "closer". And that was it, I was "lost". The more I read about her life, family, acquaintance with da Vinci, the deeper I plunged into those distant years of the Renaissance, the closer Lisa became to me. Not "Mona Lisa", not "Gioconda", but just Lisa. Maybe this mysterious "cipher" affected me so? Maybe, maybe... Oh, what an interesting time it was! Although... From the point of view of morals... Yes, from the "height" of our time, ahem.. ahem...... Lisa at 14 became the mistress of Signor Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici and was, even, pregnant by him. But, if you take into account the morals of that time, and from what a noble family he was - the family of the rulers of the Florentine Republic, then...... And Leonardo was, as they say now, of "non-traditional orientation". But on the other hand, what a talented lover he had!.... So what, condemn them? Or, maybe, today it is a rarity (I wonder, were there LGBT communities during the Renaissance)? In short, personally, I don't give a damn about it. No need to be a prude. Especially since they left such a mark in the history of mankind that any "pious" layman never even dreamed of. And I, you see, dreamed it! P. S. S. And finally. Of course, I was not present when the great Leonardo painted the picture "Mona Lisa", therefore, I must admit that everything written is the fruit of my thoughts and irrepressible imagination, inspired by the eloquent Calliope and the mischievous Morpheus. Although, who knows, who knows.... The human brain has not yet been fully studied and it is possible that there were Italian roots in my lineage and I cannot, with absolute certainty, rule out that in a past life, I was not one of those musicians or jesters who, at Leonardo's request, entertained the bored Lisa on the loggia. And genetic memory, you know........