The Mona Lisa was painted during a period of time in Europe called the Renaissance. The Renaissance represented a "rebirth" of Greek and Roman ideals and creative explosion where artists became superstars: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli--all were household names.
Mona Lisa was a real person, and the painting represents the ideal of Renaissance womanhood. It shows the realism of capturing the human form.
But it is her smile that has captured the imagination of people all over the world. It is a slight--ever so slight---smile. But that smile has held a fascination for people over the last 500 years.
