The painting is often referred to as “La Gioconda,” reflecting her married name—a nod to her husband and her contented life in Florence. Leonardo da Vinci began painting the “Mona Lisa ...

In 1911, a mysterious thief slipped the Mona Lisa out of the Louvre, shocking the world. The disappearance set off a global ...

However, the Mona Lisa (real name ‘La Gioconda’ because the subject is thought to be Italian noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo) was actually bought by the French king Francis I from Leonardo da Vinci.

Painted in the early 1500s, The Mona Lisa draws in 20,000 visitors to the Louvre every day. An understandably so: the Gioconda, with her enigmatic smile and her gaze that seems to follow you ...