Nineteenth-century art critics were troubled by vampirism and gender ambiguity in Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting.

The painting is often referred to as “La Gioconda,” reflecting her married name—a nod to her husband and her contented life in Florence. Leonardo da Vinci began painting the “Mona Lisa ...

Painted in the early 1500s, The Mona Lisa draws in 20,000 visitors to the Louvre every day. An understandably so: the Gioconda, with her enigmatic smile and her gaze that seems to follow you ...

However, the Mona Lisa (real name ‘La Gioconda’ because the subject is thought to be Italian noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo) was actually bought by the French king Francis I from Leonardo da Vinci.

One of the most famous artworks in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) was stolen from the Louvre in Paris in August 1911. Police were baffled, as it seemed to ...