Lisa del Giocondo

Lisa del Giocondo
detail of the painting showing Lisa's face
Lisa was portrayed in the Mona Lisa (detail above) by Leonardo da Vinci
Born
Lisa Gherardini

June 15, 1479
DiedJuly 14, 1542[1] (aged 63)
Convent of Saint Orsola, Duchy of Florence
Known forSubject of Mona Lisa
Spouse
Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo
(m. 1495)
Children6

Lisa del Giocondo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈliːza del dʒoˈkondo]; née Gherardini [ɡerarˈdiːni]; June 15, 1479 – July 14, 1542) was an Italian noblewoman and member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany. Her name was given to the Mona Lisa, her portrait commissioned by her husband and painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the Italian Renaissance.

Little is known about Lisa's life. Lisa was born in Florence. She married in her teens to a cloth and silk merchant who later became a local official; she was a mother to six children and led what is thought to have been a comfortable and ordinary life. Lisa outlived her husband, who was considerably her senior.

In the centuries after Lisa's life, the Mona Lisa became the world's most famous painting.[2] In 2005, Lisa was identified as a subject for a da Vinci portrait around 1503, strongly reinforcing the traditional view of her as the model for Mona Lisa.[3]

  1. ^ Kemp & Pallanti 2017, p. 57.
  2. ^ Riding, Alan (April 6, 2005). "In Louvre, New Room With View of 'Mona Lisa'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 25, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference subject was invoked but never defined (see the help page).