Italian archaeologists believe that they have found the real skeleton of Mona Lisa.
For years people have been wondering about the secret behind Mona Lisa’s smile.
Some people believe that it was Leonardo Da Vinci who put the smile on her face by using his painting techniques, some people believe that it was Leonardo Da Vinci himself disguised as a woman in his famous painting.
A new archaeological discovery may solve the secret.
Archaeologists say they have found a complete skeleton buried beneath the floor of an abandoned nunnery in Florence, Italy, which might belong to Lisa Gherardini, the woman believed to have inspired Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
The bones were found beneath the remains of an altar in the church of the now derelict Convent of St. Orsola.
“That altar was certainly in use at Lisa Gherardini’s time,” said Valeria D’Aquino, an archaeologist at the Tuscan Superintendency.
D’Aquino and colleagues had to dig through a foot of concrete before they unearthed a brick crypt containing the bones.
Vinceti said that the newly discovered bones will undergo radiocarbon dating, hystological analysis and DNA testing.
“If the bones turn to be those of a female skeleton there will be two possibilities: Either they belong to the noblewoman Maria del Riccio or they belong to Lisa Gherardini. According to historic records, only these two women, who were not nuns, were given special burials in the convent,” Vinceti told the local daily La Nazione.
Eventually, comparisons will be made with the DNA of Bartolomeo and Piero, Lisa’s children who are buried in the church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence.
