Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is the most valuable painting in the world, with an estimated value of over 100 million. You’d probably be surprised at the size of the Mona Lisa. It is only 30 by 21 inches (76 x 53 cm), only about the size of an average suitcase.

King Francis I paid Leonardo the then-equivalent of $50,000 for the Mona Lisa and had it displayed in the Louvre. It has been there ever since except for two years that it was stolen. (1911-1913) During the time it was missing, six different Americans paid $300,000 each for fakes they thought were the stolen painting.

X-ray examination of the Mona Lisa painting shows that the painting is three layers deep. Leonardo da Vinci repainted her three times to get it just right.