Mona Lisa
The painting is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and is in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. It had been believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. Recent academic work suggests that it would not have been started before 1513. It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic, on permanent display at the Louvre Museum in Paris since 1797.
Mona Lisa replicas and reinterpretations
"Mona Lisa"'s iconic face has been available for years in all forms, reproduced on everything from birthday cards to refrigerator magnets, appearing in advertisements for fashion and travel industries, and on the cover of magazines.
Leonardo da Vinci's own status as "genius" has been suggested as a factor contributing to the mystique of his creation.
The eyes of Leonardo's original "Mona Lisa" appear within cover-graphics for Dan Brown's fictional novel "The Da Vinci Code".
The "Mona Lisa" portrait also appeared in the teaser trailer for the 2006 film of the same name, although a replica was used for filming, appears only briefly in the film, and plays a very small part in the story.
Along with Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring", "Mona Lisa" is among the most replicated works of art.
The sheer number and variety of replicas and reproductions since its creation in the early 16th century illustrates a so-called "self-reinforcing dynamic"; utilized in advertising because of its familiarity, thereby re-enforcing its fame.