According to art historians, the painting known worldwide as the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) portrays a noblewoman from Florence, Lisa Gherardini, wife of the noble merchant Francesco Del Giocondo.

The artwork is also known by the name Monna Lisa: in this case, the reference is to the name Lisa, and “Monna” is a shortened form of “Madonna,” which can be translated as “Lady” or “Madam.”

Lisa Gherardini was born in Florence on June 15th 1479, and on March 5, 1495, she married Francesco del Giocondo. In 1503, they purchased a house in Via della Stufa, and in the same year, Leonardo da Vinci, commissioned by Francesco, began painting Lisa’s portrait in that very house, just behind Zà Zà.

The Mona Lisa is perhaps the most famous portrait in the world, a legendary painting by Leonardo da Vinci, created on a wooden panel measuring about 77 by 53 cm, and now exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Leonardo himself brought the Monna Lisa to France in 1516, where it was sold for around four thousand gold ducats to the then King of France, Francis I.

In the following centuries, the painting became part of the French royal collections – with Louis XIV moving it to the Palace of Versailles – before being displayed at the Louvre after the French Revolution.

The Theft of the Mona Lisa

On the night between Sunday, August 20, and Monday, August 21, 1911—a museum closing day—the Mona Lisa was stolen by a former Louvre employee, the Italian Vincenzo Peruggia, who believed Napoleon had taken it to France and sought to “bring it back to Italy.” The painting remained with him for over two years until he tried to sell it to an antiques dealer in Florence—a major misstep that led to his immediate arrest.

Once recovered, and taking advantage of the friendly relations between Italy and France at the time, the painting was exhibited throughout Italy: first in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery, then in Rome at the French Embassy in Palazzo Farnese and at the Galleria Borghese, and finally in Milan at the Pinacoteca di Brera before returning to France.

The Monna Lisa triumphantly crossed the border at Modane aboard a special train car provided by the Italian Railways, welcomed with great fanfare by the French authorities. It then arrived in Paris, where the President of the Republic and the entire government awaited it before it was returned permanently to the Louvre.