奇速英语

Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings of all time, in 1503. He was working on a special painting for a church at the time, but it was not going ___1___ (good). The woman who can be seen in the Mona Lisa is said to be Madonna Lisa del Giocondo. She was the wife of an Italian businessman. Her husband asked da Vinci ___2___ (paint) a portrait (肖像) of her.

After da Vinci finished the painting in 1506, he was invited by the French King to visit France ___3___ he took the painting with him. Today the Mona Lisa is kept in the Louvre, an art museum in Paris, and it is seen by about six million ___4___ (visit) a year.

The painting measures (测量为) only 77 centimeters by 53 centimeters and is painted ___5___ oil on wood. In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, a worker at the Louvre, stole the painting. He took it out of the museum by hiding it under ___6___ (he) coat. Two years later, police officers found ___7___ painting when he tried to sell it.

In 1962, the Mona Lisa was___8___ (take) to Washington and New York for artwork shows. For the journey, the museum ___9___ (want) to insure (给……投保) the painting. The insurance company set the value of it at 100 million dollars, making it the most ___10___ (value) painting ever! Today, the value of the painting would be over 700 million dollars.