When we look at famous paintings in museums, we all wonder about the faces staring back at us. We treat them like fictional characters, but many of those eyes belonged to real people who dealt with everyday headaches just like we do. These models sat still for hours while famous artists did their best to replicate their beauty. Want to meet the flesh-and-blood people who inspired the most famous masterpieces?
#1: Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci)
The most famous face in art history belonged to Lisa Gherardini, an Italian noblewoman from Florence. She married Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant. He asked for the portrait around 1503, and simply hired the best painter in town. We can only try to imagine the face behind the famous painting because, of course, there were no cameras to capture her at the time. To be clear, the photo on the left is not real, but Lisa is.
