Leonardo da Vinci
Mona Lisa
1503-1519
Painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1519, the 'Mona Lisa' ('La Gioconda') is a half-length portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. Leonardo's 'sfumato' dissolves her features into a suggestion of motion, an enigmatic smile, and an atmospheric dream landscape — making it the touchstone of Western portraiture. Stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and recovered in Florence two years later, the picture's worldwide fame exploded in the 20th century; today it hangs behind bulletproof glass at the Louvre as the single most-visited object in any museum.
Exhibition Venue
Image source: Wikimedia Commons