Digging up the truth of Mona Lisa
Source: Agencies |
April 6, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Italian researchers are to dig up bones in a Florence convent to try to identify the remains of a Renaissance woman long believed to be the model for the Mona Lisa.
If successful, the research might help ascertain the identity of the woman depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece - a mystery that has puzzled scholars and art lovers for centuries and generated countless theories.
The project aims to locate the remains of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo.
Tradition has long linked Gherardini to the painting, which is known in Italian as "La Gioconda" and in French as "La Joconde."
Giorgio Vasari, a 16th-century artist and biographer of Leonardo, wrote that da Vinci painted a portrait of del Giocondo's wife.
Gherardini was born in 1479. A few years ago, an amateur Italian historian said he had found a death certificate showing she died on July 15, 1542, and that her final resting place was the Convent of St Ursula in central Florence.
That's where the digging will begin later his month, said Silvano Vinceti, an art historian and the project leader.
The project falls within the current trend of employing CSI-like methods in art history, for example to find out about an artist's technique, discover details hidden in a painting or even learn about an artist's life or death.
First, researchers will use ground-penetration radar to search for hidden tombs inside the convent. Then, they will search the bones to identify ones compatible with Gherardini's - bones from a woman who died in her 60s in the period in question.
The group will also look for traces of possible diseases or bone structure to match what is known of Gherardini's life.
If such bones are identified, researchers will conduct carbon dating and extract DNA to be compared to that from the bones of Gherardini's children, some of whom are buried in a basilica in Florence.
Finally, if skull fragments are found, the group might attempt a facial reconstruction. This step will be crucial to ascertain whether Gherardini was indeed the model for the Mona Lisa and the owner of that famous smile.
If successful, the research might help ascertain the identity of the woman depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece - a mystery that has puzzled scholars and art lovers for centuries and generated countless theories.
The project aims to locate the remains of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo.
Tradition has long linked Gherardini to the painting, which is known in Italian as "La Gioconda" and in French as "La Joconde."
Giorgio Vasari, a 16th-century artist and biographer of Leonardo, wrote that da Vinci painted a portrait of del Giocondo's wife.
Gherardini was born in 1479. A few years ago, an amateur Italian historian said he had found a death certificate showing she died on July 15, 1542, and that her final resting place was the Convent of St Ursula in central Florence.
That's where the digging will begin later his month, said Silvano Vinceti, an art historian and the project leader.
The project falls within the current trend of employing CSI-like methods in art history, for example to find out about an artist's technique, discover details hidden in a painting or even learn about an artist's life or death.
First, researchers will use ground-penetration radar to search for hidden tombs inside the convent. Then, they will search the bones to identify ones compatible with Gherardini's - bones from a woman who died in her 60s in the period in question.
The group will also look for traces of possible diseases or bone structure to match what is known of Gherardini's life.
If such bones are identified, researchers will conduct carbon dating and extract DNA to be compared to that from the bones of Gherardini's children, some of whom are buried in a basilica in Florence.
Finally, if skull fragments are found, the group might attempt a facial reconstruction. This step will be crucial to ascertain whether Gherardini was indeed the model for the Mona Lisa and the owner of that famous smile.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
