Leonardo Begins the Mona Lisa
1503
In a rented studio in Florence, Leonardo da Vinci began layering translucent glazes onto a poplar panel, painting the wife of a silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo. He would carry the unfinished portrait for the rest of his life, obsessively refining a smile no one has ever quite explained.
In context
Also in 1503 (4 other events on record)
- Julius II Takes the Keys · Europe · Religion
- Spanish Rout the French at Garigliano · Europe · War
- Casa de Contratacion Founded · Europe · Politics
- Leonardo Dissects a Hundred-Year-Old Man · Europe · Science
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Renaissance (1501–1650), one of 715 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources