She is older than the rocks among which she sits;
Like the vampire,
She has been dead many times,
And learned the secrets of the grave;
And has been a diver in deep seas,
And keeps their fallen day about her;
And trafficked strange webs with Eastern merchants...
Excerpt from
The Studies in the History of the Renaissance, WALTER PATER (1839-1894)
On Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci