What type of wood is the Mona Lisa painted on?

What type of wood is the Mona Lisa painted on? Poplar. Leonardo da Vinci painted the portrait in oil on a white poplar panel, not on canvas.

Using a wooden support was standard for many Italian Renaissance paintings. Poplar was especially common in Italy because it was relatively plentiful, workable, and suitable for preparing a smooth surface. Leonardo built the image through thin layers of translucent paint, a technique associated with his subtle sfumato effects.

The panel measures roughly 77 by 53 centimetres. Its wood support has endured for more than five centuries, although it has developed structural concerns, including warping. Conservation work has therefore focused on monitoring the panel and its attached support rather than treating it like a flexible canvas.

A frequent mix-up is confusing the painting’s support with its medium: the Mona Lisa is oil paint on a poplar panel. The Louvre’s famous portrait is also sometimes confused with other versions or copies, but the celebrated original is the one painted on poplar now held in Paris.