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
Contemporary "Mona Lisa" replicas are often created in conjunction with events or exhibitions related to Leonardo da Vinci, for publicity.
Her portrait, considered public domain and therefore outside of copyright protection, has also been exploited to make political statements.
Known even to people with no art background, the mere use of "Mona Lisa"'s name – immortalized in Academy Award-winning lyrics sung by Nat King Cole (Best Original Song, 1950) – is capable of stirring public interest and intrigue.
Aside from countless print-reproductions of Leonardo's original "Mona Lisa" on postcards, coffee mugs and T-shirts, her likeness has also been re-imagined using coffee, toast, seaweed, Rubik's Cubes, and computer chips, to name only a few.
Now over five-hundred years since her creation, the perpetuation of "Mona Lisa"'s influence is reinforced with every reinterpretation.