Leonardo da Vinci is thought by some to have begun painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy. Although the Louvre states that it was “doubtless painted between 1503 and 1506”, the art historian Martin Kemp says there are some difficulties in confirming the actual dates with certainty. In addition, many Leonardo experts, such as Carlo Pedretti and Alessandro Vezzosi are of the opinion that the painting is characteristic of Leonardo’s style in the final years of his life, post-1513.

Other academics argue that, given the historical documentation, Leonardo would have painted the work from 1513. According to Leonardo’s contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, “after he had lingered over it four years, he left it unfinished”. Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted “never having completed a single work”.