The Most Expensive Painting

Updated July 24, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Question:

I'm looking for the most expensive painting in the world. Who was it painted by and when?

The Answer:

According to Guinness World Records, the most valuable painting is the Mona Lisa.

Painted by Leonardo Di Vinci begining around 1505-06, it is housed by the Louvre Museum in Paris, Frace. The painting was assessed for insurance purposes at $100 million for its move to Washington D.C. and New York for exhibition in the winter of 1962-63. However, insurance was not purchased because the cost of the closest security precautions was less than that of the premiums. Accounting for inflation, the painting would be assessed at more than $670 million today.

For more information about world art history, check out our art section.

-The Editors

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