Mona Leo

1988

10"x8"

Highlights Female Pioneer The Ragnar 100

Description

International notoriety came to Lillian Schwartz after she announced her theory that the _Mona Lisa _was a disguised self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Leo is a collage that demonstrates the thinking behind her argument by suturing one half of the Mona Lisa (1503) with half of a late self-portrait. Schwartz’s work invites viewers to note similarities in the mouth, nose, and brow, and to conclude that da Vinci used himself as a model for his most famous painting. The distances between the inner corners of their eyes, which Schwartz described as one of the most individual characteristics of a face, are within 2 percent of one another.

Made on the early photo-editing software Pico while Schwartz was in residence at Bell Labs, the collage received widespread public attention. Schwartz was interviewed by CBS Evening News, and researchers called for da Vinci’s body to be exhumed and measured against the Mona Lisa’s proportions. Schwartz produced a variety of other morphs and merges between _Mona Lisa _and self-portraits of da Vinci using the program to further substantiate her claim.

Olympiad Ken Knowlton2000 Print

Self Portrait by Lillian Feldman Schwartz, 1988 (ca)

Self Portrait Lillian Feldman Schwartz1988 (ca) Print

Untitled (EDO Series) by Lillian Feldman Schwartz, 1989

Untitled (EDO Series) Lillian Feldman Schwartz1989 Print

Lillian 2 (Picturephone Self Portrait) by Lillian Feldman Schwartz, 1979

Lillian 2 (Picturephone Self Portrait) Lillian Feldman Schwartz1979 Print

Leo & I by Lillian Feldman Schwartz, 1989

Leo & I Lillian Feldman Schwartz1989 Print

EDO Series AI-105 by Lillian Feldman Schwartz, 1989

EDO Series AI-105 Lillian Feldman Schwartz1989 Print

Devil Series #3 by Lillian Feldman Schwartz, 1988

Devil Series #3 Lillian Feldman Schwartz1988 Print

BIG MOMA Poster (super-sized edition) by Lillian Feldman Schwartz, 1984

BIG MOMA Poster (super-sized edition) Lillian Feldman Schwartz1984 Print