How did Raphael use the Mona Lisa as a model for Portrait of Maddalena Doni?

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Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, oil painting showing a woman with a slight smile and folded hands, seated before a distant, hazy landscape. — Mona Lisa *Mona Lisa*, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, 1503–19; in the Louvre, Paris.

When the young artist Raphael arrived in Florence around 1504, he sought to modernize his style by studying the works of contemporary masters, most notably Leonardo da Vinci. Raphael observed Leonardo’s work in progress and was significantly influenced by the Mona Lisa.1234

Raphael adopted the Mona Lisa format as a clear model for his own Portrait of Maddalena Doni (c. 1504–07). Specifically, he utilized the three-quarter pose popularized by Leonardo, which broke away from the traditional profile portraits common in earlier Italian art. By incorporating this composition, Raphael moved toward the freer, more flowing style that characterized the High Renaissance, helping him transition away from the more provincial techniques he had practiced as a youth.3452