
Mona Lisa – Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo
Leonardo DA VINCI
This portrait was doubtless started in Florence around 1503. It is thought to be of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo - hence the alternative title, La Gioconda. However, Leonardo seems to have taken the completed portrait to France rather than giving it to the person who commissioned it. After his death, the painting entered François I's collection.
Mona Lisa - Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo / Leonardo DA VINCI
(Musée du Louvre)