America's Book Club: Walter Isaacson on the Mona Lisa

David Rubenstein: "So let's talk about the most famous painting of them all, the Mona Lisa. Why is it so famous? And how long did he work on that?"

Walter Isaacson: Well, it's the most famous because it's the greatest painting ever done. He worked on it for at least 15 years, carrying it with him wherever he went. And the thing that makes it miraculous is the science of it. He dissects the human eye, you know, as a scientist, to figure out that in the corner of your eye you see shadows in color as well. but in the center of a retina, you see points. So he's able to make the smile of the Mona Lisa. The shadows go up on one side, but the details go down. So even as you move your head, the smile is enigmatic. It flashes on and off. Likewise, he does that with the eyes, so he dissects human faces to know every nerve that touches the lips and the eyebrows. So it's a triumph of science and art."

David Rubenstein: "And one point Jackie Kennedy, when she's first lady, talks to de Gaulle and the Minister of Culture and France into lending the Leonardo famous Mona Lisa to the National Gallery of Art, which is a couple of blocks from here, was not a big deal in the United States when it came over?"

Walter Isaacson: "It was a big deal in France. Governments of France have fallen for less, and de Gaulle had to be totally smitten by Jacqueline Onassis to allow it to come both here to the National Gallery and then I think to the Metropolitan Museum."

SUNDAYAmerica's Book Club with Walter Isaacson 6pm ET on CSPAN

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