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Mona Lisa is perhaps the most famous painting of all time and was painted by Italian Renaissance artist, Leonardo da Vinci. The Mona Lisa painting was something that artist Leonardo da Vinci worked on for many years, constantly tweaking elements of it to an almost obsessive level that is rarely seen within today's art scene. It seems that the Mona Lisa was a work that held great importance to the artist which caused him to constantly seek slight alterations to exactly capture the look that he wanted within the portrait.

The original Mona Lisa was oil on a popular panel which was a common technique at that time, but very rare nowadays. The French Government purchased this classic painting and it is now displayed within the nation's most important art gallery, The Louvre, which holds an extraordinary collection of classic art since the Middle Ages, which helps to represent the massive role that this country has played within the development of European art over that time.

Leonardo da Vinci was an immensely talented artist who was fundamental to the Renaissance movement that arose across Italy led by his own innovations plus those of fellow Italian, Michelangelo. These two were then added to by other painters who were equally skilled but perhaps less diverse, being involved in only a few art mediums. Leonardo da Vinci would never settle for painting classics like The Last Supper and Mona Lisa, continuing his talents into other areas such as Architecture, Sculpture, Drawing, and even invention.

Mona Lisa was unquestionably Leonardo da Vinci's most significant artwork, just as Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel and Raphael's School of Athens represents the very finest achievements of those famous Renaissance artists. Beyond the work of those three famous Renaissance masters, other notable works to inspire all those that followed would be Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio, Masaccio's Holy Trinity, and Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights.

Leonardo da Vinci achieved international fame thanks to a broad career filled with achievement and innovation. Many exhibitions occur frequently within Europe and North America with various selections of his original works, such as his paintings or his drawings and all displays of his works consistently achieve great interest. Da Vinci is seen as a true Renaissance figure alongside Michelangelo, and this art movement is believed to be the very first catalyst behind the rise of European art from the Middle Ages to what we enjoy today with all the various contemporary movements.