Leonardo da Vinci's 500-year-old masterpiece now hangs alone on a wall in the museum's Salle des Etats. It will give the millions of people who come to see the Mona Lisa every year a better view of the painting. The Salle des Etats has had a 4.8m euro (3.29m) renovation to provide a suitable home for the masterpiece. It will allow visitors more room to gaze in comfort on the Mona Lisa, which will be hung alone on a false wall in an area dedicated to 16th-century Italian paintings. The painting, which measures just 53 by 76 centimeters is still hung behind non-reflective, unbreakable glass to protect it from climatic changes, camera flashes and wilful damage. Before the renovation work, visitors had to crowd around the painting which was hung in a smaller space on a wall with other works of art. The painting - which is the most recognised in the world - is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of an obscure Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. April 2005
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