Leonardo’s use of Sfmato
 
Her smile never deviates from the exact lower arc of a perfect circle.
 
In creating my own tribute to Leonardo's icon, I began to comprehend this amazing little portrait from the inside.  The master utilized sfmato (a technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another) to obscure this geometric technique. With layers upon layers of glowing, gaseous glazes applied over the circle arc,  her smile seems perfectly natural and irregular- as we believe all mouths and lips which form smiles to be.
 
The Trompe L'oeil crackle I applied varies in scale, while the genuine cracked patina all over Mona Lisa does not. I was pleased so see an early trailer for The Da Vinci Code movie in which the camera takes us into the canyons of these very patina cracks. I halted the faux cracks just to her upper lip, using abstract (cubist) compositions to draw your attention to the most mysterious smile in the history of Art.
Lisa Sfmato - 24” x 24” casein on canvas
by Mark Venaglia
 
Contemporary artists unanimously agree- it is next to impossible to recreate Leonardo's legendary use of  sfmato. Venaglia has not merely conquered this most coveted technique; he is standing sfmato upon its head and using one of the cornerstones of Renaissance painting in expanded and enlarged applications never seen before.
 
A few art critics of the genuine vanguard have acknowledged Venaglia's startling revision on Realism. “This young artist is vigorously advancing Contemporary Realism..."
 
Michael James Ryman writing for The Marin Independent Journal.
 
Mark Venaglia at work in his studio.