When Leonardo began painting the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of the wealthy cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo, in 1503, little did he know just how much employment he would generate for future art historians. From theories concerning her enigmatic smile, to the painting being a self-portrait of Leonardo in drag, to her possibly being pregnant, just about everything that could possibly have been written about the Mona Lisa seems to have been written about her (perhaps with the exception of the alien conspiracy theory – stay tuned).

In addition to analyzing the formal aspects of the painting, this lecture will also examine just why the painting is so famous. Lastly, this lecture will also present some new and only recently published information that significantly changes our understanding of the painting (maybe aliens… just kidding)!!!