Leonardo da Vinci started working on the Mona Lisa around 1503 and continued

intermittently until his death in 1519. The painting, created with multiple layers of
thin oil glazes added at different times, displays small cracks known as craquelure,
more refined on the hands, corresponding to Leonardo's later period.

After Leonardo's death, the Mona Lisa became part of French King Francis I's
collection, spending years in French palaces. During the French Revolution, the
painting became public property, and after a stint in Napoleon's bedroom, it found
a permanent home in the Louvre Museum in the early 19th century.

In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen, causing a major uproar. The empty space in the
Louvre drew crowds, the museum's painting director resigned, and poet Guillaume
Apollinaire and artist Pablo Picasso were briefly arrested. Two years later, an art
dealer in Florence reported a man attempting to sell the painting. The portrait was
found hidden in the false bottom of a trunk owned by Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian
immigrant and former Louvre worker. Peruggia, along with possibly two
accomplices, had taken the painting from the wall on August 21, 1911. He was
arrested, and the Mona Lisa toured Italy before returning to France.