In which city is the Mona Lisa displayed?

The *Mona Lisa* is displayed in Paris, at the Louvre Museum.

Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait is housed in the Louvre’s Denon wing, where it is normally presented in the Salle des États. The painting is displayed behind protective glass because of its extraordinary fame, high visitor numbers, and security requirements.

Leonardo probably began the portrait in Florence around 1503. King Francis I acquired it after Leonardo’s death in 1519, bringing it into the French royal collection. It became part of the Louvre’s holdings after the French Revolution and has generally been displayed there since 1797.

Paris is the correct city, not Florence, although Florence is central to the painting’s origin: the sitter, Lisa Gherardini, was Florentine, and Leonardo began the work in Italy. Another common mix-up involves copies, including the Prado’s *Mona Lisa* in Madrid; those are different works, not the original Louvre painting.

The painting was famously stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and recovered in 1913, further intensifying its international celebrity.