Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous portraits ever done in history. It was painted by an Italian artist called Leonardo da Vinci and it dates back to 1517. The Mona Lisa is on display in a French museum called The Louvre in Paris which is one of the most famous museums in the world.


Interesting Facts.

• The Mona Lisa was originally supposed to be called The Monna Lisa but because of a spelling mistake it was called the Mona Lisa. It was going to be called Monna because in Italian Monna means Madonna which means 'My Lady'.
• The medium of the painting is oils on white Lombardy poplar panel.
• The original belief is that the painting is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini who was a 24 year old mother and the wife of Francesco del Giocondo but some do believe that the painting is a self-portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci himself.
• The eyebrows and eyelashes of the Mona Lisa are missing, some people believe they were removed during a restoration and some believe she never had any to begin with and that Leonardo didn't finished The Mona Lisa.
• There are three layers beneath The Mona Lisa each showing her in a different pose.
• The Mona Lisa holds the Guinness world record of being the most valuable painting in the world. It is said to be worth nearly €800 million in 2017

The Mona Lisa is said to be "The best known, the most visited, the most sung and written about and the most parodied work of art in the world".


The Mona Lisa is a beautiful painting and is a great example of a portrait, it is one of the first portraits done to show good examples of perspective and depth.