Who Was Mona Lisa? Will We Ever Find Out?
For more than 500 years, Mona Lisa has fascinated the world with her unique smile and her mysterious identity. Now it looks like we may be closer to finding out who the subject of the world’s most famous painting was, and her relationship to its artist Leonardo Da Vinci.
Art historian Silvano Vicenti and his team are planning to dig up the remains of an Italian noblewoman named Lisa Gherardini, who is believed to have been the model for Mona Lisa. The noblewoman is believed to have been buried in a convent in Florence, and was the wife of a rich silk merchant who was a supporter of Da Vinci.
The Power Of DNA
Using scientific techniques, Vicenti hopes to extract DNA from her skull and use it to rebuild her face. However, Vicenti faces several challenges. It is not known for sure where Gherardini is buried in the convent and whether her remains are still there.
Vicenti’s team will use radar (a way to detect objects using radio waves) to search for tombs under the floor of the convent and then, if they find human remains, they will try to identify bones that match a woman of Gherardini’s age when she died. After that they will conduct DNA tests to determine if they match those of Gherardini’s children, who are also buried nearby.
Previously, Vicenti claims to have successfully reconstructed the faces of famous Italian Renaissance artist Caravaggio and poet Dante in the same way. Even if he succeeds this time, doubts may still be cast on whether Gherardini was indeed Da Vinci’s inspiration. That’s because different art experts have different theories on the real model for Mona Lisa -- from the artist himself, to his mother, and even his male apprentice.
The Most Famous Portrait
Mona Lisa is the most famous example of a Renaissance painting technique called “sfumato,” where the subject seems to be slightly out of focus. This makes the dark colors seem a little lighter and the brights a little duller, and gives an overall impression of calmness.
It is believed that Da Vinci carried this unfinished work wherever he went until its completion in 1519, shortly before his death. The painting currently hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris. It is set behind a wall of bulletproof glass and watched over by armed guards. Why the fuss around this painting? According to art historians, the Romantic movement of the 19th century had a part to play. Romantic writers popularized the image of Mona Lisa as a 'femme fatale' -- a woman who held secrets behind her bemused smile.
However, it was the theft in 1911 from the Louvre, and the subsequent recovery in Florence two years later that made the painting really famous. Books and movies such as Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' have added to the mystique with references to secret messages hidden in the painting. To this day, there is some new revelation about the painting every year!
Looks like we may never truly solve the mystery of the Mona Lisa.
I Love this painting so much! I could recognize it from anywhere. For some reason it does seem she was up to something. Something strange and awkward.
i wonder what expression davinci was trying to portray? i always had a queer feeling mona lisa could do with a nap.
Wow. I learned a lot
me too
This is so interesting.I never really thought about the mona lisa untill I read this.Now,I am curious.
That is so cool but its so strange.
yep
It just feels strange
wow thats cool he pretty much used his face to turn it into his own ART work of somebody
they say you can't take pics of mona lisa with flash because i've been in paris
the picture is so precious but i really don't think it needs to be so heavily guarded. It is like every time someone wants to look at the painting guards check you and you have to look from ten feet away.
Well it have been missing for 2 years so they are probably so worried it will happen again.
I wish the model had just gone on and said she was the model before she died. Then we wouldn't have this big mystery.
What if there was never a real model. It might have been just a lady that Leonardo had thought up in his own creativity.
That is what i think too but no wants to believe it.
i think they will find out who mona lisa is because a lot of scientists and explorers and biologists are working on it.
why would he paint himself as a girl?
He didn't paint himself as a girl. You are missing the point.
If Mona Lisa is actually Da Vinci, then why did he call it "Mona Lisa"? That sounds kinda femenine.
He wanted to give the painting an edge of mystery, probably, and confuse the world. And it worked, didn't it - we are still confused centuries later! If he had just labeled the painting as "Da Vinci", it would have been just another piece of artwork. Also, people may have questioned why Da Vinci had painted himself as a girl!
He wanted to paint himself in such a way that no one could make out it is him. Painting himself a girl was a great idea because nobody is going to associate a girl with Da Vinci. He also added history to this mysterious painting by getting a 'Lisa Gherardini' into the whole thing.
At one time, Mona Lisa was regarded as the most beautiful woman who ever lived. If he heard this, I would really want to see his expression.
I would love to see his expression too!
I really like this picture but wow i didnt know she was famous.
What evidence do they have, if not concrete, that the painting may be a model of this lady?
i hope they find the remains
i like this article i think its very interesting.
I love art, but there is an artistic genius in my class. Her name is Sierra.
It must be nice to know her. Is she a friend?
i like this painting but you know everything the artist did, but this one we just dont know who the girl is.. i think they need to find out!!
i think this is a great article. I think they will find out who she is.
it is a very good painting. it is cool to find out more about this girl
I heard once that he started painting a model, but she had to leave. He finished the painting by inserting his own face!
How is shaving eyebrows attractive?
I don't think she shaved her eyebrows. I might be wrong, but I believe that he forgot to paint her eyebrows.
If you watch the video, then it said that shaving women's eyebrows were attractive back then. It said the same thing about their hair line.
I doubt she existed.
I hope they will find the remains. I can't believe that DNA was used for this much!!! This is so cool!!!
that is so cool
neat how they're doing this. But what if the head doesn't match her, and the Mona Lisa doesn't actually exist? What if she was made up by Da Vinci?
well i hope that they do find the remains and now i think that the price of the mona lisa will be more valuable - even priceless
People say that they have noticed that her mouth wasnt smiling all the way and they say it means something but I dont get it.
I wonder what the real story behind the picture is. I think the picture is very abstract.
wow thats amazing i didnt know that they could do that with that technology.
so we dont know who she is but she is famous
I think that the Mona Lisa , would look better if she just showed her wonderful smile a little bit. She did not have to keep her mouth shut like she does . I like her smile now but im sure her teeth are pretty too. It would also make this painting even better.
If she had been smiling a little more, this portrait would never have been famous. It is this mysterious half-smile of hers that captures a viewer's eyes.
That isn't very true!
I was watching a documentary on the television which was about Mona Lisa. They proved that Mona Lisa has nothing to do with Lisa Gherardini. In fact this woman was Da Vinci himself. They compared the dimensions of Da Vinci's face, eyes, mouth, nose and other parts of his face in his self-portrait with Mona Lisa's portrait.
The results were unbelievable. The dimensions matched perfectly! This means that Da Vinci used the dimensions of his own face to create all his paintings. He always wished to fool the world and he succeeded in doing so for 500 years. He must be having a good laugh in heaven!
Don't say heaven! It might be against somebody's religion.
Thats really strange. But it does make sense. Might as well use yourself as a model when no one was around.