Lisa Gherardini

Skull of Mona Lisa model found?

Florence: Archaeologists in Italy's Florence city have uncovered a skeleton they believe could be the 500 year-old remains of the noblewoman who is believed to have posed for Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa masterpiece.

An excavation that started earlier this month of what was once the convent of Saint Orsola, where Lisa Gherardini - the wife of wealthy silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo - was buried following her death in July 1542 at 63 years.

A grave was unearthed that contained a skeleton of an adult woman with parts of the skull and pelvis, said Giorgio Gruppioni, an archaeology professor from the University of Bologna and coordinator of the excavation.

"The skull and pelvis have been crushed by the weight of the ground," he said. Other pieces of the skull and pelvis must first be recovered before the archaeologists can definitively determine the skeleton's sex, he said....more    

Hunt for the true Mona Lisa begins in Italy

Florence: Researchers have begun their hunt for the remains of the woman who might have been the model for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, hoping to unravel a mystery that has baffled art historians for over five centuries. A team of experts armed with a special radar device descended this week on a dilapidated convent in Florence where they believe the body of the woman who modeled for da Vinci...  

Mona Lisa was new mother during pose

Mona Lisa had just given birth to her second son when she sat for the painting, a French art expert says. ...