Mona Lisa

Identity of the model

The painting may or may not be a portrait of a real woman. Vasari identified the subject to be the wife of the socially prominent Francesco del Giocondo. It is known that del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant of Florence and a prominent government figure, really existed. Little is known about his wife, Lisa Gherardini, except that she was born in 1479 and raised at the family's Villa Vignamaggio in Tuscany, and that she married del Giocondo in 1495.

Related Topics:
Silk - Florence - 1479 - Tuscany - 1495

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During the last years of his life, Da Vinci spoke of a portrait "of a certain Florentine lady done from life at the request of the magnificent Giuliano de' Medici." No evidence has been found that indicates a link between Lisa Gherardini and Giuliano de' Medici, but then the comment could instead refer to one of the two other portraits of women executed by Da Vinci. A later anonymous statement created confusion when it linked the Mona Lisa to a portrait of Francesco del Giocondo himself – perhaps the origin of the controversial idea that it is the portrait of a man.

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Dr. Lillian Schwartz of Bell Labs suggests that the Mona Lisa is actually a self-portrait. She supports this theory with the results of a digital analysis of the facial features of Leonardo's face and that of the famous painting. When flipping a self-portrait drawing by Leonardo and then merging that with an image of the Mona Lisa using a computer, the features of the faces align perfectly. Critics of this theory suggest that the similarities are due to both portraits being painted by the same person using the same style. Additionally, the drawing on which she based the comparison may not be a self-portrait.

Related Topics:
Lillian Schwartz - Bell Labs

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Maike Vogt-Lüerssen argues that the woman behind the famous smile is Isabella of Aragon, the Duchess of Milan. Leonardo was court painter for the Duke Of Milan for 11 years. The pattern on Mona Lisa's dark green dress, Vogt-Lüerssen believes, indicates that she is a member of the house of Visconti-Sforza. Her theory is that the Mona Lisa was the first official portrait of the new Duchess of Milan, which requires that it was painted in spring or summer 1489 (and not 1503).

Related Topics:
Isabella of Aragon - Duchess of Milan - Visconti-Sforza - 1489 - 1503

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German and Russian students have seen a new fact: the correspondence between the face of Mona Lisa and the face of Caterina Sforza in a portrait of Lorenzo di Credi (). Caterina Sorza was the Lady of Forlì and Imola when Cesare Borgia and Leonardo went in Romagna. So Monna Lisa should be Caterina Sforza. The portrait of Lorenzo di Credi is now in the Museum of Forlì, in Italy and is known also as "La dama dei gelsomini".

Related Topics:
Caterina Sforza - Lorenzo di Credi - Forlì - Imola - Cesare Borgia - Romagna - Italy

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