PIXABAY
We have been trying to decipher “La Gioconda” for centuries. With his portrait, Leonardo seems to challenge us to guess what emotion his muse feels. At the University of Amsterdam, neuroscientists subjected the painting to analysis using emotional recognition programs. The computer looks for differences from a neutral expression: swollen nose or eye wrinkles. They concluded that “La Gioconda” showed happiness at 83%. They also detected other emotions: 9% disgust, 6% fear and 2% anger.
These computer programs are still rudimentary because they do not capture the nuances, the hints of desire or disappointment. In contrast, the human brain has evolved to pick up on any change in facial expression, no matter how small. Here, the human being is superior to the machine.
We’re incredibly good at spotting emotional traits, even if they’re hidden behind a neutral expression, or poker face. It’s a key social skill, so the mystery appeals to us human beings.
Contents
The code that Freud tried to decipher in “La Gioconda”
From the start, the Renaissance was surprised by this captivating smile. In the 19th century, the poet and playwright Théophile Gautier was one of the first to raise this problem. A portrait that smiles mysteriously, whose enigma is not solved. After watching it for hours, we continue to search for the emotion it conveys. Or rather, the mix of emotions at play, as dynamic as if alive.
Freud thought the smile reminded of his mother, from whom Leonardo separated early. In the 21st century, neuroscience has provided answers. Neurobiologist Margaret Livingstone has noted that “La Gioconda” appears to be smiling, especially from a distance. Up close, looking into her eyes, she is still smiling. However, looking directly at the mouth, the smile is not found. The lips are contracted, without the typical curvature of joy. Where is it hidden?
Central and peripheral vision
The human eye has two types of vision: central and peripheral. Central vision has higher resolution due to the concentration of conical photoreceptors in the center of the retina, in the fovea. Therefore, he specializes in high spatial frequencies. That is to say strong lines and contrasts. The central vision captures specific details.
Instead, peripheral vision detects low frequencies in out-of-focus areas. Your goal is not to perceive details, but large areas. The end result of the visual processing looks like a photograph of a well-defined face in the foreground, while the landscape around it is blurred.
The neuroscientific explanation
Leonardo painted the smile with soft brush strokes using a new technique, the sfumato. He applied very thin layers of pigment, very diluted. These layers overlap translucent tones, creating a subtle expression. Therefore, the smile is not noticeable with our central vision, which detects definite features. The smile emits low frequencies and is only picked up in peripheral vision, with the corner of the eye.
Leonardo developed this technique during his last years, from 1513. He kept the painting until his death, as if it were his laboratory. He experiments with new ways to classify shadows, sometimes with his fingers. Thus he succeeds in making his “Gioconda” smile elusively. When you want to catch the smile, focus on it up close, you lose it. It disappears in the air like a soap bubble. Central vision, no matter how far you look, does not detect the low frequencies of a faded smile.
Leonardo da Vinci described the sfumato What “without lines or borders, like smoke”That is “beyond the blueprint”. But how did he arrive at this discovery? Was it a mixture of observation and intuition, perception and logic? It is not only art, but also science obtained after a lifetime of research.
Why doesn’t the magic smile of “La Gioconda” appear in the Prado?
At the same time as “La Gioconda” in the Louvre, the Prado version was painted in Leonardo’s Florentine studio. The restorer Ana González-Mozo considers that it was executed by a close disciple, under the master’s supervision and in parallel. The reflectograms demonstrate that the same hidden details and corrections appear in both paintings. However, by this time Leonardo had not fully developed the sfumato.
Around 1506, these twin paintings set off on divergent paths. The Gioconda del Prado has been completed and delivered to the client. In this one, the corners of the mouth are marked and the transition of the shadows is less delicate. The grin is more serious. This lady seems to be waiting to be animated by a music group, as the painter Giorgio Vasari said.
In contrast, Leonardo continued to work on “La Joconde” in the Louvre until he was paralyzed in 1517. He was a work in progress, his living will (perhaps a self-portrait). Somehow, Gioconda and Leonardo grew old together. Today, in unison, both continue to question us.
Leonardo’s question remains valid. Neuroscience attempts to understand how emotion recognition works, a cognitive process essential to our social interactions. If we do not recognize the emotional expressions of others well, we will have interpersonal difficulties. According to Leonardo, the obvious features are important, but so are the subtleties, like a smile on the verge of emerging or in danger of fading.
Character font:
Reference article: https://theconversation.com/why-la-gioconda-del-louvre-smiles-and-la-del-prado-no-170614