The Mona Lisa (Gioconda, Joconde) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. The painting is probably of the Italian noblewoman Lisa Gherardini [9], the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and is in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. Leonardo never gave the painting to the Giocondo family, and later it is believed he left it in his will to his favored apprentice Salaì.[10] It had been believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic itself, on permanent display at the Louvre, Paris since 1797. 9. Pallanti, Giuseppe (2006). Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of Leonardo's Model. Florence, Italy: Skira. ISBN 88-7624-659-2, p. 40
"When he gets that smile that he's so fond of it's exceedingly delightful..." 12th May 1898 Burne-Jones talking to T M Rooke see Mary Lago pub. 1981