What – or who – is the Mona Lisa?
The Mona Lisa was created by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. He was not only a painter, but also (among other things) an architect, inventor, physicist and anatomist. Da Vinci probably painted the portrait between 1503 and 1506. It is one of the few works that experts are certain is by Leonardo da Vinci himself.
The painting depicts a woman looking straight at us, with a mountain landscape in the background. It is still not clear who exactly the woman is. It is believed to be Lisa Gherardini, the third wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a textile merchant from Florence. Hence the nickname of the painting, ‘La Gioconda’, which in Italian means ‘the wife of Giocondo’.
The Mona Lisa was innovative for its time, partly because of the sfumato-technology. There are no defined lines, Da Vinci blurred the contours by applying several layers of paint on top of each other. The painting has fascinated artists, scientists and the public for centuries. The mysterious smile in particular continues to appeal to the imagination.
