Mona Lisa – ikona sztuki – ikona (pop)kultury. Problem dzieła sztuki wobec „zjawiska pełności” José Ortegi y Gasseta

Abstract

The author adopts the theoretical ideas of a Spanish social philosopher José Ortega y Gasset to analyse the contemporary processes that occur between the artistic culture and the massified everyday life. Referring to the category of “the phenomenon of the fullness”, outlined in a book The Revolt of the Masses, she describes a variety of social reactions to one of the most famous works of art – the portrait of the Gioconda by Leonardo da Vinci. The events of the last hundred years (from a theft in 1911, to two foreign travels, to the appearance in Dan Brown’s bestseller The Da Vinci Code) have made the artwork not only an icon of the artistic world, but, above all, a star of the mass culture. The museum space where Giaconda is displayed is regularly filled with crowds. For many, a selfie in front of the painting is a must-have souvenir from a trip to Paris. At the same time, the Gioconda is a heroine of Internet memes and decorative imprints on mugs, T-shirts, or bags. The author uses a selection of mostly classical theoretical concepts to support her thesis that “the Gioconda phenomenon” is an exemplification of José Ortega y Gasset’s vision of the revolting masses.