Did you know?Her real name was Lisa Gherardini — a Florentine silk merchant's wife, only 24 when she sat for Leonardo. In Italy the painting is still called 'La Gioconda' after her married name, Giocondo. She was almost forgotten by history until 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre — and it was the theft, not the smile, that made her world-famous. Staff took about 28 hours to notice she was gone. The thief, a former Louvre handyman, had helped build her own protective case, and hid her in his apartment for two years. Pablo Picasso was even arrested and questioned as a suspect.