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THE MONA LISA THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS PAINTING

FULL NAME: La Gioconda (or, more commonly, The Mona Lisa)

CREATED: C. 1503, FLORENCE, ITALY

NATIONALITY: ITALIAN/FRENCH

THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS SMILE

La Gioconda, the painting better known as The Mona Lisa, is one of the most visited and best-known paintings in the entire world. Its painter, Leonardo da Vinci, was not only an artist, but also an inventor, sculptor, architect, and engineer. He painted the work in Florence some time between 1503 and 1506, and the painting now hangs in the Musee de Louvre in Paris, France. Leonardo’s composition and style set the standard and revolutionized portrait painting.

WHO IS MONA LISA?

In spite of its claim to be the world’s most famous painting, a lot of mystery surrounds the half-smiling woman in the picture. Many historians believe her to be Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, the wife of a silk merchant from Florence. Others believe the model could have been Leonardo’s mother, Caterina, or an Italian princess named Isabella d’Este. A more unusual suggestion is that the painting is actually meant to be a riddle: a self-portrait of Leonardo himself. The question remains unanswered to this day, over 500 years later.

Just who is the woman in the painting? No one is certain. All we do know is that The Mona Lisa was painted in oil paints on wood around 1503.

The Musee de Louvre, in Paris, France, is one of the most popular museums of art in the world.

The Mona Lisa remains one of the most replicated artworks, imitated by artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol. Operas and ballads have been written about her, as well as movies, novels, and plays. Her mysterious smile remains the most recognized in the world.