The Mona Lisa in the Louvre
(protected by bullet-proof glass)

Without a doubt, the most famous and most admired (and perhaps most mysterious) painting of all time is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa del Gioconda, also known simply as "La Gioconda". The portrait was painted on a 77cm x 53cm large poplar-wood by Leonardo in the year 1506, in the midst of an extraordinary life of unparallelled genius. As the quintessential "Renaissance man", Leonardo was not only one of the greatest Italian artists of all time, but also a brilliant scientist, architect, and inventor far ahead of his time; his inventions included the helicopter and the machine gun.