This world’s most-famous painting was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519, by the Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect and engineer Leonardo da Vinci. The sitter’s mysterious smile and her unproven identity have made the painting a source of ongoing investigation and fascination. Much speculation and debate regarding the identity of the portrait’s sitter led to suggestions: Leonardo’s mother Caterina, Leonardo’s self-portrait, Lisa del Giocondo, and the wife of a Florentine merchant. Forensic experts in August 2013 opened the tomb of the Giocondo family in Florence in order to find Lisa del Giocondo’s remains, test her DNA, and recreate an image of her face.
The Mona Lisa
