In the early 1500s, an Italian sculptor/painter named Leonardo da Vinci created a portrait of a woman named Lisa del Giocondo at the behest of her husband, a silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo.
Some historians believe that Francesco was involved in a female slave trade that extended to the shores of North Africa. The unseemly business venture is said to have brought several women into his household before the construction of the most well-known painting of all time. Francesco died of the infamous plague (Black Death Virus) in 1538; Lisa became deathly ill four years later, but in the following decades, her story became more prevalent in pop culture along with her likeness. Today, the Mona Lisa is displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Its value is upwards of $860 million.
An AI artist recently created an image of what Lisa would look like today; scroll up to take a look.
