Q 01/05

Who painted the Mona Lisa?

A) Michelangelo Buonarroti

B) Raphael Sanzio

C) Sandro Botticelli

D) Leonardo da Vinci

Answer · why

D) Leonardo da Vinci

It is the only one of his portraits whose authenticity has never been seriously questioned.

Q 02/05

The Mona Lisa is painted in oil on a panel of which wood?

A) Cypress

B) Oak

C) Walnut

D) Poplar

Answer · why

D) Poplar

The unrestrained panel warped with humidity, causing a crack that runs down to the sitter's hairline.

Q 03/05

The woman generally identified as the sitter, Lisa del Giocondo, was married to a merchant in what trade?

A) Silk

B) Wool

C) Banking

D) Wine

Answer · why

A) Silk

Vasari wrote that Leonardo painted the portrait for her husband, Francesco del Giocondo; the couple had six children.

Q 04/05

The Italian title La Gioconda is a pun on the sitter's married name and means what?

A) The silent one

B) The jocund, or happy, one

C) The hidden one

D) The golden one

Answer · why

B) The jocund, or happy, one

The French title La Joconde carries the same meaning; 'Mona' itself is a contraction of ma donna, meaning my lady.

Q 05/05

Which Renaissance biographer wrote in 1550 that Leonardo painted 'Mona Lisa' for Francesco del Giocondo?

A) Benvenuto Cellini

B) Baldassare Castiglione

C) Giorgio Vasari

D) Niccolò Machiavelli

Answer · why

C) Giorgio Vasari

His account came 31 years after Leonardo's death and also claims the artist lingered over it four years and left it unfinished.