A historic villa once owned by the family of Lisa del Giocondo—the noblewoman famously portrayed in Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (1503–06)—has been placed on sale. Priced at €18 million ($19.66 million), the property is located in the Scandicci commune near Florence, Italy. The property is under the protection of the Superintendence for Architectural and Landscape Heritage and is being sold by Sotheby’s International Realty.
This estate, known as Villa Antinori di Monte Aguglioni, was constructed around 1300. By 1498, it was acquired by the Giocondo family. Shortly after, Francesco del Giocondo, husband to Lisa, commissioned the Mona Lisa from Da Vinci, thought to be intended for the newly acquired villa and to celebrate the birth of their second daughter. Da Vinci began painting the portrait between 1503 and 1506 but never gave the finished painting to the Giocondo family.
Da Vinci is believed to have continued working on the Mona Lisa intermittently as late as 1517. After his death, the painting was acquired by King Francis of France in 1519. The painting has been displayed at the Louvre since 1797.
The villa itself covers approximately 43,000 square feet across four floors with a combination of above-ground and partially underground levels. It features 14 bedrooms and 15 full baths, along with five lounges, a dining room, and a library. The estate also features an at-home gym, staff quarters, and an elevator alongside a second-floor terrace and an antique iron veranda. Outside, the 66-acre grounds include an orangery, a greenhouse, and a caretaker’s house.
