Lisa del Giocondo

Born Lisa Gherardini in Florence. An ordinary Florentine woman from a family of middling status. Her ancestors had some money once, but it was long gone.

Marries Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant, at age 15. He's her senior by more than a decade. It was his third marriage. She brings a modest dowry of 170 florins.

Sits for a portrait by Leonardo da Vinci. Her husband probably commissioned it to celebrate the birth of their second son and their new home. Leonardo never delivers the painting. He keeps working on it for years, carries it to France, and dies with it still in his studio.

Dies at 63. A widow by then. She spent her last years in a convent where her daughter was a nun. Nobody at the time considered her portrait remarkable. Five centuries of fame lay ahead of her, all of it without her knowledge.