Answer:
Valued in excess of $1 billion, the Mona Lisa, perhaps the greatest treasure of Renaissance art, is one of many masterpieces of High Renaissance painting housed in the Louvre. The painting is known to Italians as La Gioconda, the French call her La Joconde. The work is arguably the finest ever example of portrait art, and one of the greatest Renaissance paintings of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Despite being the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa is - like all of Leonardo's works - neither signed nor dated. Its title comes from the biography of Leonardo written by the 16th century Mannerist painter and biographer Giorgio Vasari (1511-74), and published around 1550, which reported his agreement to paint the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine dignitary and wealthy silk merchant. Vasari also mentioned that Leonardo employed musicians and troubadours to keep her amused, which might explain her enigmatic smile. As usual, Leonardo procrastinated endlessly over the painting - notably the position of the subject's hands - and continued working on it for another 20 years. Sadly, La Gioconda has become so famous and so valuable that it is almost impossible to catch more than a quick glimpse of her, as she sits inscrutably in the Louvre behind the non-reflective glass of her temperature-controlled security box.
Explanation: Valued in excess of $1 billion, the Mona Lisa, perhaps the greatest treasure of Renaissance Art, is one of many masterpieces of High Renaissance painting housed in the Louvre. The painting is known to Italians as La Gioconda, the French call her La Joconde. The work is arguably the finest ever example of portrait art, and one of the greatest Renaissance painting of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The portrait shows the subject sitting upright and sideways in a chair, with her face and chest turned slightly towards the viewer: a posture derived from the 'pyramid' image used to depict a sitting Madonna. Her left arm sits comfortably on the armrest of the chair and is clasped by the hand of her right arm which crosses her front. The slightly protective position of her arms, as well as the armrest, creates a sense of distance between sitter and spectator.
