Few human creations carry as much weight as a masterpiece painting. From the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa to the swirling skies of Van Gogh, these works have outlived their creators by centuries — and still draw tens of millions of pilgrims every year to the Louvre, the Uffizi, the MoMA and the Prado.

The paintings gathered here span over 500 years of art history. Renaissance giants like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli and Vermeer sit alongside the radical visionaries who tore up the rulebook — Monet and the impressionists, Munch and Klimt, Picasso, Dalí, Magritte. Some are tiny panels you can hold in your hands; others are wall-spanning frescos painted on chapel ceilings.

Look at the canvas. The composition, the colour, that one detail you've seen on a thousand mugs and t-shirts. Can you put a name to the image? You have three tries per painting. Many works go by different titles in different languages — *La Joconde*, *La Gioconda*, *Mona Lisa* are all the same lady — and any common form is accepted.