Leonardo da Vinci
The Louvre
HISTORIC, side-long, implicating eyes ;
A smile of velvet's lustre on the cheek ;
Calm lips the smile leads upward ; hand that lies
Glowing and soft, the patience in its rest
Of cruelty that waits and doth not seek
For prey ; a dusky forehead and a breast
Where twilight touches ripeness amorously :
Behind her, crystal rocks, a sea and skies
Of evanescent blue on cloud and creek ;
Landscape that shines suppressive of its zest
For those vicissitudes by which men die.
Image: da Vinci, Leonardo, Mona Lisa (1503-1506). Oil on wood. 77 x 53 cm. © The Louvre Museum, Paris, 1518. 1st floor, room 6
