'I'm enthralled by every page of Dianne Hales's Mona Lisa. The mysteries of the painting remain, but through Hales's portraits of the people and her skilled rendering of customs, politics, and daily habits of the time, you come to know the painting in profound new ways. The great pleasure of her prose brings Lisa Gheradini's world to vivid life. Anyone who loves art and Italy-and who doesn't-will adore this book. Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun and Under Magnolia sakriti opis