He addressed her simply as "madam," refusing to grant ownership of the face he addressed to the wife of the Gioconda merchant it was rumored had modeled for the painting, querying her as to the secrets she so impishly withheld.

"I have studied you, I have studied Leonardo your creator and God, and still you only smile, never so much as a whisper stirring your lips," the Emperor muttered quietly, his face cast in the flickering shadows that more brightly illuminated the painting across from him. "Like me, da Vinci was a man who knew his worth at a young age, showed his brilliance time and again in many arenas, like me as well -- surely he did not intend for you to keep his secrets!"

But no matter how earnestly the Emperor pleaded, how harshly he chastised or how desperately he begged, the Mona Lisa only smiled in return....
[ View Full Essay]