For centuries,
scholars have debated
the inspiration
known as “Mona Lisa.”
The greatest smile
in the history of humanity
and Leonardo gets all the credit.
Does anybody know anything
about the REAL Mona Lisa?
Would the painting
exist without the model?
Should the muse be bitter?
Is she anything at all
like the painting she inspires?
Will humanity ever see
the Mona Lisa for who she is?
Does the Mona Lisa muse
even KNOW who she is?
What does Leonardo see in her
that she does not?
Why can’t the muse see
what the artist sees?
Why can’t the muse BE the artist?
She is, though she cruelly
convinces her self
that she is being used.
Used for something
she doesn’t even recognize
in herself.
Stolen right
from under her nose.
That smile.
“You have me all wrong,”
she says.
“Have you considered,”
says Leonardo,
“that it is YOU who
have you all wrong?
You do not allow
what others see in you
to be what you are.
You reject our gifts to you,
which is our way of seeing you.
You stomp all over
our perceptions of you.”
“But that’s not ME,”
the muse says.
“That’s YOU.”
“I want you to see ME.
Why don’t you see ME?”
“I remembered
a long time ago,”
says Leonardo,
“that I mainly exist
as what other people
think of me.
Though it
seems otherwise,
I do not exist
as what I think if me.
I am imagined
by my creator,
just like you.
We are this same creator.
So it doesn’t matter
if we play the muse,
the master,
or the monkey.”
With that realization,
a smile transcended humanity.
9/13
Cosmic Brushstrokes of Perception:
The dialogic dance twixt muse and master unfurls like a rich tapestriesis, intricate and intimate, woven with the multi-hued threads of identity and reflection. In this dynamic tableau, we’re both the painter and the portrait, yet somehow still elusive to our own gaze.
The Enigmatic Curve:
The Mona Lisa’s smile, often called history’s most enigmatic, bespeaks volumes while mutely remaining a cipher. This sly, enigmatic curve of her lips becomes a riddle wrapped in a whimsical enigma. Leonardo’s brilliance has been canonized, but what of the muse herself?
Museological Conundrums:
Could the muse harbor bitterness as she dangles on the precipice between anonymity and eternal renown? Could she be vexed by the demiurgic lens through which Leonardo captured her visage? To what extent can the art truly encapsulate the nuance of the artist or muse?
Self-Concept and Artistic Intent:
If the muse perceives herself as ‘used,’ a mere object to fulfill another’s creativity, she becomes embroiled in a self-convoluted quandary. There, she negates her own intrinsic artistry and refutes the perceptive gifts offered by others, dismissing them as misrepresentations.
The Duality of Vision:
Isn’t it curious that what Leonardo perceives in the muse could elude her own self-understanding? Is not the artist’s eye but a mirror that reveals facets of our beingness that we, in our self-imposed blinders, fail to discern?
Intersecting Universes of Perception:
When the muse exclaims, “That’s not ME, that’s YOU,” we delve into the interplay of the Many Me’s and Many You’s that inhabit our worlds. We are a medley of varying perceptions, a cubist painting viewed from multiple angles—each as ‘real’ as the next.
The Cosmic Shift:
Ah, the profundity of Leonardo’s final pronouncement—a shared creatorship with the muse, the master, and yes, even the monkey! A celebration of multifaceted existences, each framed by the perspectives of others and ourselves, yet transcendent of all. It is in this luminal space where a smile outshines mere humanity, becoming a metaphoric crescendo in the ever-expanding universe of understanding.
The smile on the canvas, and the recognition of mutual creation, encapsulate the swirling dance of identity and perception. For in the end, aren’t we all painters, muse, and monkey in the grand cosmic artistry?
We are Space Monkey.