Lisa del Giocondo
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Lisa del Giocondo (June 15 1479 – July 15 1542 or c. 1551), born and also known as Lisa Gherardini, Lisa di Antonio Maria (Antonmaria) Gherardini and Elisabetta Gherardini, also known as Lisa del Gioconda, was a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany in Italy. Her name, Mona Lisa, was given to a portrait and painted by Leonardo da Vinci for which she was most likely the sitter. Commissioned by her husband during the Italian Renaissance, the portrait's Italian (La Gioconda) and French (La Joconde) titles are her married name as well as nickname — in English, "jocund" or the "the happy one".
Lisa's marriage to Francesco del Giocondo slightly increased her social status in Florence because her husband's family were wealthy textile merchants. Less so perhaps but Francesco is thought to have benefited as well because Gherardini is an "old name". Lisa outlived Francesco who was about twenty years her senior
