She has been attacked, parodied and gawped at for 500 years, but still the Mona Lisa keeps smiling. Now, she has suffered perhaps the ultimate impertinence, as curators have questioned her age. It has always been thought that Leonardo da Vinci took three years to paint his portrait of Lisa Gherardini, nicknamed La Gioconda, from 1503 to 1506. But evidence has surfaced that he actually took 16 years, and that he was still dabbing at her when he died in 1519. This would place the portrait in Leonardo’s late period, and would explain why it never belonged to Francesco del Giocondo, the sitter’s husband, even though he commissioned it.

After being attacked, parodied and gawped at for 500 years, the Mona Lisa has suffered perhaps the ultimate impertinence, as curators have questioned her age. Pic/Camera Press/ James Veysey/ The Interview People