Monalisa(Leonardo Da Vinci)

The history of the Mona Lisa is shrouded in mystery. Among the aspects which remain unclear are the exact identity of the sitter, who commissioned the portrait, how long Leonardo worked on the painting, how long he kept it, and how it came to be in the French royal collection.

The portrait may have been painted to mark one of two events - either when Francesco del Giocondo and his wife bought their own house in 1503, or when their second son, Andrea, was born in December 1502 after the death of a daughter in 1499. The delicate dark veil that covers Mona Lisa's hair is sometimes considered a mourning veil. In fact, such veils were commonly worn as a mark of virtue. Her clothing is unremarkable. Neither the yellow sleeves of her gown, nor her pleated gown, nor the scarf delicately draped round her shoulders are signs of aristocratic status.

This portrait was doubtless started in Florence around 1503. It  is thought to be of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant  named Francesco del Giocondo - hence the alternative title, La  Gioconda. However, Leonardo seems to have taken the completed portrait  to France rather than giving it to the person who commissioned it. After  his death, the painting entered François I's collection.




In person, Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi is  haunting, a 500-year-old portrait of Jesus Christ that seems to radiate  from within while displaying a staggering mastery of anatomy, optics  and craft.And for somewhere (way) north of $100 million, it can be yours."This is the holy grail of Old Master paintings, some people call it the male Mona Lisa,"  says Francois de Poortere, head of the Old Masters department at  Christie's, which will auction off the painting in New York on Nov. 15.  "People are deeply taken by this work. You could buy it and just build  an entire museum around it."


Why is it so famous?
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