The Mona Lisa, the best-known painting in the world: it has held a certain mystery to all who have seen it. The beautiful face is commanding in its beauty and compelling in its atmosphere. A controversy still remains, however, as to whose portrait Leonardo Da Vinci actually painted. A Florentine matron? Who?
Compare the painting with the photograph of Shri Mataji. This photograph provides the answer, if someone only has eyes to see. Shri Mataji’s beauty, gesture and mood all speak of the secret of the Mona Lisa. Da Vinci, a realized soul and genius, has painted the ideal woman, through thoughtless inspiration. The identity of the actual model for the work seems unimportant in comparison with the resemblance of the painting to the photograph.
The painting (completed between 1503 and 1506) has been an object of contemplation and admiration for centuries. The painter’s use of many layers of transparent colour gives a subtle brilliance to a realistic face of a woman. This technique of sfumato (half-light) puts the woman painted seemingly in two worlds: sitting in a chair, in front of a natural, almost primeval landscape.
The photograph of Shri Mataji: the soulful eyes, the part of the hair, the clasped hands, the pose in the chair, even the way the tapestry and the open land beyond give a sense of depth similar to the painting’s landscape! The qualities of pure beauty and intelligence that radiate from the painting in a quietly mystical way say, “Who is She?” And finally we know.
Source: Light of Sahaja Yoga Newsletter