Mona Lisa Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Mona Lisa
Italian: La Gioconda, French: La Joconde

Artist	Leonardo da Vinci
Year	c. 1503–1519
Type	Oil on poplar
Location	Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Mona Lisa is a very famous painting from the 1500s. It is also called La Gioconda or La Joconde. The great artist Leonardo da Vinci painted it using oil paints. Many people find her smile mysterious. It is one of the most well-known artworks in the world. About 80% of visitors to the Musée du Louvre in Paris come to see it!

Leonardo started painting the Mona Lisa around 1503 in Florence, Italy. He worked on it for several years. A writer named Giorgio Vasari said Leonardo left it unfinished. Leonardo brought the painting to France in 1516. There, King Francis I bought it.

Today, the Government of France owns the Mona Lisa. It is displayed at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Its full title there is Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. For many years, people wondered who the woman in the painting was. In 2005, notes were found that proved it was Lisa Gherardini. She was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a rich silk merchant from Florence. This idea was already written about by Giorgio Vasari.

Some people once thought this might be the Mona Lisa (1499-1500)

The Famous Mona Lisa Painting
- Why the Mona Lisa is So Special
The Mona Lisa Was Stolen!
- How the Mona Lisa Was Found
Interesting Facts About the Mona Lisa
Images for kids
See also

The Famous Mona Lisa Painting

The Mona Lisa is known for its unique style. It uses a technique called sfumato. This means colors and tones blend softly into each other. There are no harsh lines. This makes the painting look hazy and dreamlike. It also helps create the mysterious smile.

Leonardo da Vinci was a master of many things. He was an artist, scientist, and inventor. He used his knowledge of human anatomy to paint realistic figures. The Mona Lisa's hands and face show this skill.

Why the Mona Lisa is So Special

The Mona Lisa is famous for many reasons. Her smile is one of the biggest mysteries. It seems to change as you look at it. Some say it's happy, others say it's sad. This makes people wonder about her feelings.

The painting also shows Leonardo's amazing skill. He captured a person's inner thoughts and feelings. This was new for paintings at the time. The background landscape is also very detailed. It adds to the painting's depth.

The Mona Lisa Was Stolen!

On August 21, 1911, something shocking happened. The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre! At first, museum staff thought it was being photographed. But when they checked, it was gone. The Louvre museum closed for a week to search for it.

People suspected a French poet named Guillaume Apollinaire. He was even put in jail. He tried to blame his friend, the artist Pablo Picasso. But neither of them had taken it.

The painting was missing for two years. Many thought it was lost forever. But a worker at the Louvre named Vincenzo Peruggia was the real thief. He had hidden the painting under his coat. He walked out with it after the museum closed. He wanted the painting to go back to Italy. He believed it belonged in an Italian museum.

How the Mona Lisa Was Found

Vincenzo Peruggia hid the Mona Lisa in his apartment for two years. He grew impatient and tried to sell it. He contacted an art gallery in Florence. But he was caught! The painting was shown all over Italy before returning to the Louvre. Many people in Italy saw Vincenzo as a hero. They thought he loved Italy very much. Because of this, he only spent a few months in jail.

Interesting Facts About the Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci's right hand was partly paralyzed by 1517. So, the painting might not have all its finishing touches.
The Mona Lisa has been displayed in royal palaces. These include the homes of King Francis I and King Louis XIV. It was also owned by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Some people once thought the woman in the painting might be Constanza d’Avalos, Beatrice d’Este, or Isabella of Aragon.
Lisa's husband, Francesco del Giocondo, asked Da Vinci to paint his wife. This was to celebrate their new home and the birth of their second son.
The painting was not made on canvas. It was painted on a poplar plank. This is a flat piece of wood.
The Mona Lisa is only about 30 inches tall and 21 inches wide (77 cm x 53 cm). But it is quite heavy for its size, weighing 18 lbs (8.16 kg).
French law says the Mona Lisa cannot be bought or sold.
The painting was moved many times during World War II. This was to keep the Nazis from stealing it.
Many people have tried to damage the Mona Lisa. It now hangs behind bullet-proof glass for protection.

Images for kids

A note by Agostino Vespucci from 1503. It says Leonardo was working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.
Colour portraits of Isabella d'Este in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
A close-up of the background on the right side.
A close-up of Lisa's hands. Her right hand rests on her left. This gesture shows her as a good and faithful wife.
A drawing by Raphael (around 1505), inspired by Leonardo's work. It is also in the Musée du Louvre.
Louis Béroud's 1911 painting. It shows the Mona Lisa in the Musée du Louvre before it was stolen. Béroud was the one who discovered it was missing.
How tourists see the painting in 2015.
The Mona Lisa behind bulletproof glass at the Musée du Louvre.
The Mona Lisa painting.
In 2014, the Mona Lisa was one of the biggest attractions at the Louvre.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Madeleine Malraux, André Malraux, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson at the unveiling of the Mona Lisa at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., January 8, 1963.
Raphael's Young Woman with Unicorn, around 1506.
Raphael's Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (around 1514–15).
Le rire (The Laugh) by Eugène Bataille, or Sapeck (1883).
Marguerite Agniel "As Mona Lisa" by Robert Henri, around 1929.
A copy of Mona Lisa often thought to be by Salaì.
The Prado Museum La Gioconda copy.
The Isleworth Mona Lisa copy.
Hermitage Mona Lisa copy.