Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel by Leonardo da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance. The work is owned by the Government of France and is on the wall in the Louvre in Paris, France with the title Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. It is perhaps the most famous painting in the world.

The painting is a half-length portrait and depicts a woman whose expression is often described as enigmatic. The ambiguity of the sitter's expression, the monumentality of the half-figure composition, and the subtle modeling of forms and atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the painting's continuing fascination. It is probably the most famous painting that has ever been stolen from the Louvre and recovered. Few other works of art have been subject to as much scrutiny, study, mythologizing, and parody.

The Louvre, the biggest art museum in the world, has thousands of paintings, but its star attraction is the Mona Lisa, known in France as La Joconde.
The 500-year-old portrait was stolen in 1911, but returned to the Louvre after an Italian was arrested for its theft two years later.
It was doused with acid by a vandal in 1956 and later the same year a Bolivian damaged it again by throwing a stone at it.