Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa has worn that mystical smile on her mug for over 500 years! Who is this mysterious lady who at us from The Louvre benignly peers? She had to sit for over four years for the artist to capture that simple pose. Who she is and what's behind that smile, only Leonardo DaVinci knows! She ain't the most beautiful woman to come down the pike but what the heck. Since her genesis in 1503 she wasn't treated all that well during her dicey trek! She's been mutilated, stolen a time or two and graced Napoleon's sleeping place. All the while she's borne it with grace with that inane smile upon her face! Some have said that she's the widowed Duchess of Milan, Isabella of Aragon. Others have sworn that she's Mona Lisa Gherardini and so it goes on and on! Signore DaVinci left no specific clues as to the name of this mysterious dame! Through the centuries men have scratched their skulls trying to seek her name! Was that frozen smile upon her face to hide teeth that were crooked and stained? Or was her pose such that her posterior and sacroiliac were slightly strained? Perhaps her compressed smile implied to Leonardo, "Hurry up and git 'er done! You're payin' minimum wage and fella, posin' fer posterity ain't all that fun!" Now hung upon the wall of The Louvre she's worth millions and millions of bucks. Not bad for an unknown woman from who knows where, but here's the crux: That beatific smile upon the homely face of Mona Lisa that Leonardo created, And what she's smiling for will always be debated and pondered unabated! Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired © All Rights Reserved Tied for 3d Place in Carolyn Devonshire's "Unsolved Mysteries" Contest - Jul 2011