Vol. 129 No. 1 (2025)
Original Article

An anatomical drawing by Leonardo as the matrix for the landscape of his Monna Lisa? An anatomical analysis

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  • Jean-Yves Maigne
Jean-Yves Maigne
Department of Physical Medicine, University Hospital Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, France
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/ijae-16064

Published 2025-07-10

Keywords

  • Mona Lisa,
  • Monna Lisa,
  • Joconde,
  • Gioconda,
  • Leonardo da Vinci

How to Cite

Maigne, J.-Y. (2025). An anatomical drawing by Leonardo as the matrix for the landscape of his Monna Lisa? An anatomical analysis. Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, 129(1), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.36253/ijae-16064

Copyright (c) 2025 Jean-Yves Maigne

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The landscape behind the Monna Lisa has always intrigued art historians. It is difficult to understand it and there are great differences of interpretation among Leonardo scholars. In this study, we suggest that the source of inspiration for this landscape could be an anatomical drawing by Leonardo himself, entitled the Coition of a Hemisectioned Man and Woman. Far beyond a simple coitus, it illustrates the anatomy of the mechanisms of human generation as they were understood at that time. To test this hypothesis, we compared different elements in the anatomical drawing with the landscape in the painting: respectively the left part of the drawing (female side) with the left part of the landscape and the right part of the drawing (male side) with the right part of the landscape. Indeed, the anatomical elements involved in the reproduction process and appearing in the drawing can be found in the painting as well and with the same arrangement, with more or less marked camouflage. We conclude that the landscape behind the Monna Lisa is a composite landscape with a double meaning, natural and anatomical. This stratagem may have allowed Leonardo to have his drawing admired by those who admire the portrait of a Florentine lady, without anyone knowing.

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