Mona Lisa in the 19th Century: The Silent Inspiration of Change
Irina Ciumac & Adam Rasky
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Drawing from subjective feelings, Pater created his own interpretations of the Mona Lisa. Ruth C. Child discusses in, Is Walter Pater an Impressionistic Critic?,@Child, Ruth C. "Is Walter Pater an Impressionistic Critic?."Modern Language Association 53.4 (1938): 1172-1195. how Pater created his own artistic work “as a disillusioned romantic critic who has turned creator.”@Ibid. See page 1172. Pater did not seem to be particularly interested in allowing the Mona Lisa to retain her mystery. Instead, he transformed his impressions of the Mona Lisa into a new image of who she could have possibly been. As Child explains, “the result is completely personal” and not a judgment which “will have validity for others.”@Ibid. See page 1173. In other words, his authoritative descriptions of the Mona Lisa are only assumptions, since “he cannot return to the impressions which the artist sought to objectify” and he also “cannot comprehend the uniqueness of the artist”@Ibid. See page 1183. or more importantly, the woman sitting before the artist. Pater’s disregard for the female voice may have been due to having lived within a patriarchal society his entire life.
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Another example of the patriarchal tradition of art criticism can be seen in W.B. Yeats’ review of Sight and Song. Firstly, Yeats exposed Michael Field’s true identity, which was something that is wholly unnecessary and inappropriate in what was supposed to be a literary review. Not only this, but when he wrote of “the two ladies who hide themselves behind the pen name of Michael Field”@Yeats, W. B. "Sight and Song." The Bookman. July 1892: 116-17. Print. , his language suggests that he was unsympathetic towards their wish to remain incognito. Even if he did not know the two women were lovers, surely he would have been aware of the fact that men were taken more seriously in Victorian society. By exposing the poets as women, he either intentionally meant to discredit their work, or he was legitimately unaware of the possible implications of his actions. Second, the feminist, erotic, and social themes in Sight and Song seemed to completely fly over Yeats’ head. He judged Field’s work as a “faint shadow of poetry”@Ibid. See page 116., on the grounds that they only described the scene of each painting, but apparently said nothing of value about them. He went on to question “What new thing do they bring into the world”@Ibid. See page 117.? It may be the case that Yeats was so deeply entrenched in the patriarchal tradition of art criticism that he failed to notice just how novel the poetry in Sight and Song was. In addition to this, the simple act of females engaged in art criticism gave voice to the voiceless - a groundbreaking act which Yeats also failed to recognize.
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W.B. Yeats
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Throughout this exhibit, we have explored how different texts, such as the poem “La Gioconda” by Michael Field and Pater’s essay of the same name can inform upon the meanings behind the Mona Lisa, depending on the social movements and institutions from which those texts emerged. It has also been shown that female models were turned into art for the satisfaction of men, whose gaze became their voice, collectively silencing the voices of women in a patriarchal society. The female models’ characteristics and traits were placed upon them without recognition for their own identity. Although the Mona Lisa inspired Pater to write an essay in which he perpetuated this very system, it also inspired Michael Field to write “La Gioconda”, a poem that exposed and criticized the patriarchy, and contributed to the social movement towards female empowerment. Although the woman who posed for Leonardo da Vinci is not alive today, her image has captivated people for centuries. Her mysterious gaze has witnessed incredible change in society, and perhaps the fact that she played a role in this change accounts for her smile.
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