<P> Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable and famous works of art in the world, and also one of the most replicated and reinterpreted . Mona Lisa replicas were already being painted during Leonardo's lifetime by his own students and contemporaries . Some are claimed to be the work of Leonardo himself, and remain disputed by scholars . Prominent 20th - century artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dalí have also produced derivative works, manipulating Mona Lisa's image to suit their own aesthetic . Replicating Renaissance masterpieces continues to be a way for aspiring artists to perfect their painting techniques and prove their skills . </P> <P> Contemporary Mona Lisa replicas are often created in conjunction with events or exhibitions related to Leonardo da Vinci, for publicity . Her portrait, considered public domain and therefore outside of copyright protection, has also been exploited to make political statements . Known even to people with no art background, the mere use of Mona Lisa's name--immortalized in Academy Award - winning lyrics sung by Nat King Cole (Best Original Song, 1950)--is capable of stirring public interest and intrigue . Aside from countless print - reproductions of Leonardo's original Mona Lisa on postcards, coffee mugs and T - shirts, her likeness has also been re-imagined using coffee, toast, seaweed, Rubik's Cubes, and computer chips, to name only a few . Now over five - hundred years since her creation, the perpetuation of Mona Lisa's influence is reinforced with every reinterpretation . </P> <P> At the start of the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned by Florentine nobleman Francesco del Giocondo to paint a portrait of his wife, Lisa . The painting is believed to have been undertaken between 1503 and 1506 . Leonardo's portrait of Mona Lisa ("Mona" or "Monna" being the Italian honorific for "Madame") has been on display as part of the permanent collection at Paris' Louvre museum since 1797 . It is also known as La Joconde in French and La Gioconda in Italian, and has been known by other names in the past . There is a new study setting the beginning of the Mona Lisa to an earlier date that thought before, pre-1478, contrary to Vasari's narrative . Replicas of Mona Lisa date back to the 16th century, including sculptures and etchings inspired by the painting . But even by the start of the 20th century, historian Donald Sassoon has stated, Mona Lisa was still "just a well - respected painting by a famous old master, hanging in one of the great museums of the world ." The image had yet to gain iconic status, and, Sassoon adds, was "not even the most valued painting in the Louvre ." The painting's theft on August 11, 1911, and the subsequent media frenzy surrounding the investigation and its recovery are contributing factors which ignited public interest and catapulted Mona Lisa to its current standing . </P>

Who owns the copyright to the mona lisa