Mona Lisa

What it is

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, [and] the most parodied work of art in the world". The painting's novel qualities include the subject's enigmatic expression, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism. The painting has been traditionally considered to depict the Italian noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo.

Key facts

What it is

painting source

Owned by

French State, Francis I of France source

Created

1503 source

Country of origin

Republic of Florence source

Located in

Paris source

Creator

Leonardo da Vinci source

Made from

oil paint, poplar panel, wood source

Height

79.4 source

Origin and history

King Francis I of France acquired the Mona Lisa after Leonardo's death in 1519. It was kept at the Palace of Fontainebleau until Louis XIV moved it to the Palace of Versailles, where it remained until the French Revolution. In 1797, it went on permanent display at the Louvre.

Fun facts

The Mona Lisa began influencing contemporary Florentine painting even before its completion. Raphael, who had been to Leonardo's workshop several times, promptly used elements of the portrait's composition and format in several of his works, such as Young Woman with Unicorn (c. 1506), and Portrait of Maddalena Doni (c. 1506). Later paintings by Raphael, such as La velata (1515–16) and Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (c. 1514–15), continued to borrow from Leonardo's painting. Cultural depictions of the Mona Lisa include: The 1915 Mona Lisa by German composer Max von Schillings. Two 1930s films written about the theft, (The Theft of the Mona Lisa and Arsène Lupin). The 1950 song "Mona Lisa" recorded by Nat King Cole.