Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda or La Joconde),often called the Mona Lisa,is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel in Florence by Leonardo da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance.The work is owned by the Government of France and is on the wall in the Louvre in Paris,France with the title Portrait of Lisa Gherardini,wife of Francesco del Giocondo.It is perhaps the most famous and iconic painting in the world.
The painting is a half-length portrait and depicts a woman whose facial expression is often described as enigmatic.The ambiguity of the sitter's expression,the monumentality of the half-figure composition,and the subtle modeling of forms and atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the painting's continuing fascination.It is probably the most famous painting that has ever been stolen from the Louvre and recovered.Few other works of art have been subject to as much scrutiny,study,mythologizing,and parody.A charcoal and graphite study of the Mona Lisa attributed to Leonardo is in the Hyde Collection,in Glens Falls,NY.