Last resting place of the Mona Lisa? Historians dig up grave ?of da Vinici?s muse?

Last resting place of the Mona Lisa? Historians dig up grave ?of da Vinici?s muse?

Mangalore Today News Network

Art historians seeking the final resting place of the woman said to have posed for the enigmatic Mona Lisa painting today unearthed what they believe is her crypt.

It was found after a two week search of an abandoned convent by experts using ground penetrating radar and ancient maps and documents in an Indiana Jones style quest.

Professor Silvano Vinceti is leading the hunt for Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo who is said to be the mystery woman behind the 500-year-old painting of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

The crypt was found under the floor of the St Ursula convent in Florence after a foot of modern concrete was removed and unearthed a layer of ancient, 90-centimeter wide bricks.

Bones which have been found earlier are said to be irrelevant to the search and either animal bones or those from a Roman graveyard which was known to be in the area.

Professor Vinceti said: ’This is a very exciting development and the find is consistent with our records and our preliminary research.

’We are still a long way to go and we will have to work several more days before we actually reach the tomb and open it to recover the bones.

’The crypt we have found is the one that was mentioned in church records from 1495 and was reached via a grate and then a staircase.

’We also know from those records that in 1625 there was a second crypt and these are the ones we have found.

’So far we have found some beautiful bits of pottery and old bones but the real discovery is still to be made - when we reach the crypt and open it to see if there are any remains.’

Present at the dig was Natalia Gucciardini Strozzi, who is related to Lisa Gherardini and who is also a close friend of Prince Charles and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Initially she had opposed the dig saying that it was of ’no use’ and that she should be allowed to ’’rest in peace’’ but now she is giving it her backing after meeting Professor Vinceti and his team.

She said: ’It was so emotional being here - I didn’t think I would get so emotional. I am certain that this is the final resting place of Lisa Gherardini.

’At first the thought of the dig horrified me but now I am fascinated, I find it interesting to think that this is the final resting place of one of my ancestors.’

Lisa Gheradini, who died in 1542, was the wife of a rich silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo and in Italy the Mona Lisa is known as La Gioconda.

The aim of the dig is to find Mona Lisa’s remains, compare her DNA with that of two her children buried in Florence’s Santissima Annunziata church, then reconstruct her face and compare it to Leonardo’s painting.

 

If found, Mona Lisa’s body will be examined by archaeologists, art historians, anatomic pathologists, anthropologists and biologists.

Historians have already discovered her death certificate which gives the resting place as the Saint Orsola convent but their are fears that after 500 years the crypt may have shifted.

Most modern historians agree that the Mona Lisa sitter was Lisa del Giocondo, who became a nun after her husband’s death and died in the convent on July 15, 1542, aged 63.

The couple were married in 1495 when the bride was 16 and the groom 35 and it has been suggested that the da Vinci was commissioned the portrait to mark her pregnancy.

It is not the first time that Professor Vinceti has used such techniques in his work - last year similar methods were used to locate and identify the remains of Caravaggio, another Renaissance master.

Last year in a Dan Brown style mystery professor Vincenti also claimed that a hidden message could be seen in the eyes of the Mona Lisa after examining them with a high powered magnifying glass.

The Mona Lisa is an oil on panel painting owned by the French government and the image is so widely recognised and caricatured that it is considered the most famous painting in the world.

Da Vinci started to paint it in 1503 or 1504 and finished it in 1519, shortly before his death, and after he had moved to France.

In August 1911 the painting was stolen by an Italian employee at the Louvre who felt that it should be returned to its native Italy and it was only returned two years later after being put on display widely across the country.

It suffered two vandal attacks in 1956 and since then has been behind bullet proof glass - which protected it from the last assault last year when a Russian woman angry at being refused French citizenship threw a tea mug at it which shattered as it hit the glass.