Source: Web Galery of Art

 

He drew secrets behind the mist of fears,
Brought sfumato to sweep across her tears.

Wrestling the world to come and understand
The line between the real and the uncertain.

For the eyes still quietly pondering,
The details of Mona Lisa’s longing.

Imperfection,
Colored into legend.

 

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La Gioconda, meaning the merry one, is another name for one of the most iconic figures in art history: Mona Lisa.

The poem "La Gioconda" is inspired by the universal image of women, who are often expected by the outside world to always “appear”: graceful, sweet, and smiling. Expression becomes a performance, one that must constantly be maintained.

This idea resonates with the mystery surrounding the Mona Lisa. As Giorgio Vasari once wrote, there is a suggestion of a smile in her eyes, her lips, and the corners of her mouth, an unfathomable expression that, for centuries, has stirred endless interpretations and imagination.

Through the poem “La Gioconda”, that smile becomes more than just a symbol of beauty. It becomes a representation of the paradox within womanhood itself: the quiet pressure of how one should appear.

Imperfection is also part of how this painting has been read—beginning with the absence of eyebrows to the hazy, unfinished background. Yet it is precisely through these imperfections that Mona Lisa became a legend: a masterpiece that endures because it holds more questions than answers.

To women, I hope the line “Imperfection, colored into legend” becomes something they continue to teach themselves. Because remembering alone can be difficult, when the world so often speaks louder about what is lacking than what is already enough. We are taught early on to chase an image, rather than accept ourselves as we are. So may they not just remember it, but turn it into a mantra: that imperfection is not the end of beauty, but the beginning of meaning.