Which artist painted the Mona Lisa, displayed at the Louvre Museum?

Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, which is displayed at the Louvre Museum.

The portrait shows a seated woman identified by many scholars as Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. This identification explains the Italian title La Gioconda and the French title La Joconde. Leonardo is believed to have begun the work around 1503 and continued refining it for years rather than completing it as a quick commission.

Leonardo used thin, translucent layers of paint in a technique known as sfumato. This softened transitions between light and shadow and helped create the painting’s famously ambiguous expression. The work is relatively small, measuring about 77 by 53 centimetres, but its reputation grew dramatically through reproduction, scholarship, and publicity.

The Mona Lisa entered the French royal collection and eventually became part of the Louvre’s holdings. It was stolen in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered in 1913. Leonardo’s name is sometimes confused with Michelangelo’s because both were major Italian Renaissance artists, but Michelangelo was principally celebrated for sculpture and monumental frescoes.