/ world today news/ Italian scientists believe that they have discovered the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci’s model – Mona Lisa, buried under the chapel of an abandoned monastery in Florence, writes “Daily Mail”.
Carbon dating of the bones of three women exhumed at the monastery have been dated to the time of death of Italian aristocrat Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, according to the website Artprice.
Most historians agree that Lisa Gerardini del Giocondo, a noblewoman who was the third wife of the Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, posed for the Renaissance masterpiece.
After an investigation, archaeologists led by Silvano Vincetti exhumed several skeletons stacked on top of each other under the chapel.
Scientists have now completed carbon dating of one of the fragments and found that the remains are consistent with the period. Gerardini died aged 63 in 1542, after being widowed and going to live with her daughter Marietta, who was a nun.
Lead researcher Silvano Vincetti said it was highly likely that the remains found belonged to Gherardini. “We have done very rigorous historical, anthropological and archaeological analysis. The chances of the bones being hers are very high.”
Vincetti regretted that the bones were few and there was no skull that could be used to reconstruct the enigmatic face of Leonardo’s model. Even if DNA remained on the bones found, that of her sons Bartolomeo and Piero, whose bones were found in the church of Santissima Annunziata, was too damaged by a flood to match.
However, Vincetti hopes that in a few years there may be technology that can confirm with certainty that the bones found are of the Mona Lisa.
The true identity of the woman painted by Leonardo has been a matter of dispute among historians for many years. But a note written by an Italian civil servant named Agostino Vespucci in 1503 identified the painting’s subject as Lisa del Giocondo.
Rome, Italy
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