Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci began the portrait around 1503, most likely commissioned by Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo as a portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini — hence the Italian alternative title, La Gioconda (the joyful one). Leonardo worked on it for at least four years and possibly returned to it as late as 1517, never fully completing it to his own satisfaction.

Rather than delivering the painting to its patron, Leonardo kept it with him for the rest of his life. When he moved to France at the invitation of King Francis I in 1516, the Mona Lisa came with him. After his death in 1519, it passed to his pupil Salaì, before eventually entering the French royal collection.

The painting's metamorphosis into a global icon began on 21 August 1911, when it was stolen by Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia, who hid inside the building overnight. The theft shocked the world; the empty space on the wall drew more visitors than the painting itself had. Recovered in 1913, the subsequent publicity transformed it into the most recognisable image in the world.