Artist: Leonardo Da Vinci (Italy, 1452 – France, 1519)
Date: c. 1503-1519
Dimensions: 30-1/4 x 21 inches
Medium: oil on panel
Location: The Louvre

The Mona Lisa has become an icon and perhaps the most recognized painting of all time, the painting became really big after 1911 when the painting was stolen and went missing for a couple years, around the 20th century is when the painting became as notorious as it is now after it was retrieved. The portrait is said to be of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a wealthy Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo. La Gioconda is the alternative name of the painting, la Gioconda meaning “happy” in Italian, her smile has caught the eyes of millions round the world. The painting was never delivered to Lisa and Francesco, instead Leonardo kept the painting and took it with him to France. There is rumor that the painting may have been painted in the likes of two events, when the couple purchased a home in 1503 or to celebrate the birth of their son.
The portrait is drawn to a realistic scale, its painted half-length sitting on a chair while her arms are resting on the armrest, she is wearing very plain clothing which is quite unique from the other outfits worn at the time, no jewelry and we can also see that she has no eyebrows and eyelashes. If we look closely there is a ledge with the columns of a balcony cropped off right behind her which forms a “window” looking into the landscape behind her. The landscape is quite interesting, from the neck and below the landscape seems inhabited with bridges and roads from the neck up the landscape look mysterious and almost like another world.