Read Next
Arts & Culture
Mona Lisa
painting by Leonardo da Vinci
Category:
Arts & Culture
- Also called:
- Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo
- Italian:
- La Gioconda, or
- French:
- La Joconde
- On the Web:
- CNN - What's so special about the Mona Lisa? (Jan. 22, 2024)
Recent News
Jan. 28, 2024, 5:06 PM ET (AP)
French farmers aim to put Paris 'under siege' in tractor protest. Activists hurl soup at 'Mona Lisa'
Jan. 28, 2024, 2:39 PM ET (AP)
See the moment climate activists throw soup at the 'Mona Lisa' in Paris
Top Questions
Who was the Mona Lisa in real life?
How many years did it take to paint the Mona Lisa?
Where is the real Mona Lisa kept?
What is the value of the Mona Lisa?
Why is the Mona Lisa so famous?
Mona Lisa, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most famous painting. It was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519, when Leonardo was living in Florence, and it now hangs in the Louvre Museum, Paris, where it remained an object of pilgrimage in the 21st century. The sitter’s mysterious smile and her unproven identity have made the painting a source of ongoing investigation and fascination. The painting presents a woman in half-body portrait, which has as a backdrop a distant landscape. Yet this simple description of a seemingly standard composition gives little sense ...(100 of 1675 words)