How is Lisa Gherardini connected to Francesco del Giocondo?

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Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, oil painting showing a woman with a slight smile and folded hands, seated before a distant, hazy landscape. — Mona Lisa *Mona Lisa*, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, 1503–19; in the Louvre, Paris.

Lisa Gherardini was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine silk merchant. It is widely believed by scholars that Francesco commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint the portrait of his wife, which is why the work is frequently referred to as La Gioconda.12