“La Gioconda” is also the name given the painting by Leonardo da Vinci more usually known as the Mona Lisa.
Historians believe the Mona Lisa is a portrait of Madam Lisa Giocondo, wife of a wealthy Florentine. Giorgio Vasari, a sixteenth century biographer of the life of Leonardo da Vinci, gave the painting its name Mona Lisa (which is know in Italian as La Gioconda or La Joconde in French). The original is now owned by the Government of France, displayed at the Louvre in Paris.