“It’s a symbol of greatness when even a man walking the streets that has never entered a museum or beheld the greatness of the swirls of colors on a canvas has heard of the Mona Lisa. Leonardo Da Vinci’s path to fame, the Mona Lisa is a painting that has held audiences captivated for decades as they argue whether the mystery of the smile on an otherwise plain face was a mistake or an attempt to glorify the face that would ordinarily not be looked at twice. It has been widely acclaimed that the painter emulates his or her emotions through the picture presented on the canvas and yet, the Mona Lisa has remained elusive in its abject creation. Some suggest the canvas displays the portrait of a merchant’s wife while others purport that the model is a figment of the artist’s imagination. Both perspectives give rise to completely different interpretations and thus enhance the mystery that shrouds the painting. In interpreting the canvas we must look towards the style of the painter or artist in this Leonardo da Vinci whose stylistic features will be determined through a general analysis of his background and the influence of his time on his emotive work.”