Mona Lisa Identified

[circumstantial tree]

BERLIN (Reuters) - German academics believe they have solved the centuries-old mystery behind the identity of the "Mona Lisa" in Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait.

 

Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo, has long been seen as the most likely model for the sixteenth-century painting.

 

But art historians have often wondered whether the smiling woman may actually have been da Vinci's lover, his mother or the artist himself.

 

Now experts at the Heidelberg University library say dated notes scribbled in the margins of a book by its owner in October 1503 confirm once and for all that Lisa del Giocondo was indeed the model for one of the most famous portraits in the world.

 

"All doubts about the identity of the Mona Lisa have been eliminated by a discovery by Dr. Armin Schlechter," a manuscript expert, the library said in a statement on Monday.

 

Until then, only "scant evidence" from sixteenth-century documents had been available. "This left lots of room for interpretation and there were many different identities put forward," the library said.

 

The notes were made by a Florentine city official Agostino Vespucci, an acquaintance of the artist, in a collection of letters by the Roman orator Cicero.

 

The comments compare Leonardo to the ancient Greek artist Apelles and say he was working on three paintings at the time, one of them a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.

 

Art experts, who have already dated the painting to this time, say the Heidelberg discovery is a breakthrough and the earliest mention linking the merchant's wife to the portrait.

 

"There is no reason for any lingering doubts that this is another woman," Leipzig University art historian Frank Zoellner told German radio. "One could even say that books written about all this in the past few years were unnecessary, had we known."

 

The woman was first linked to the painting in around 1550 by Italian official Giorgio Vasari, the library said, but added there had been doubts about Vasari's reliability and had made the comments five decades after the portrait had been painted.

 

The Heidelberg notes were actually discovered over two years ago in the library by Schlechter, a spokeswoman said.

 

Although the findings had been printed in the library's public catalogue they had not been widely publicized and had been received little attention until a German broadcaster decided to do some recording at the library, she said.

 

The painting, which hangs in the Louvre in Paris, is also known as "La Gioconda" meaning the happy or joyful woman in Italian, a title which also suggests the woman's married name.

 

 

[Territorial_Game]

Very cool

[progrush2112]

Hmm. Interesting!

[Dweezil]

Bullpoop. IMO.

 

Some of these old art farts are so mindmangled with their theories and shite, cripes they spend 90% of their life pursuing one theory or painting history. I think one of them convinced himself over a scrap of paper.

 

I like that we don't know for sure who that chick really is.

 

But I'm happy for the old fart.

[rickyrob]

QUOTE (Mrs. Huck Rogers @ Jan 15 2008, 01:58 PM)

Bullpoop. IMO. Some of these old art farts are so mindmangled with their theories and shite, cripes they spend 90% of their life pursuing one theory or painting history. I think one of them convinced himself over a scrap of paper. I like that we don't know for sure who that chick really is. But I'm happy for the old fart.

 

They'll be sayin' they know who God is next..

 

edit: typo

Edited January 15, 2008 by rickyrob

[circumstantial tree]

QUOTE (rickyrob @ Jan 15 2008, 08:03 AM)

QUOTE (Mrs. Huck Rogers @ Jan 15 2008, 01:58 PM) Bullpoop. IMO. Some of these old art farts are so mindmangled with their theories and shite, cripes they spend 90% of their life pursuing one theory or painting history. I think one of them convinced himself over a scrap of paper. I like that we don't know for sure who that chick really is. But I'm happy for the old fart.   They'll be sayin' they know who God is next..   edit: typo Unfortunately, they already do.

[H. P. L.]

No big surprise there. Back when I still was studying art, Lisa del Giocondo was already cited as the model. All the other theories were just speculation, in a Dan Brown kinda way. Seems like they have discovered hot water once again...

[Huck]

That's a very interesting article CT, like Mrs Huck said I think it's kinda cool that we don't know who she is.

 

Having said that it seems a plausible and likely theory to me.

 

 

[circumstantial tree]

It's those damn Germans I tell ya!

[goose]

QUOTE (H. P. L. @ Jan 15 2008, 09:38 AM)

No big surprise there. Back when I still was studying art, Lisa del Giocondo was already cited as the model. All the other theories were just speculation, in a Dan Brown kinda way. Seems like they have discovered hot water once again...

Yeah, this is nothing new, other than tio confirm what we probably knew. Any number of Spanish students are probably familiar with the short story "Una hija singular" by Juan Carlos Moreno. It's about a guy riding a steamboat from Buenos Aires to Montevideo and he happens upon a strange little girl with stiff neck and a mesmerizing smile. Her name? Gioconda.

 

If you read Spanish, here's the story...

 

http://teacherweb.com/MA/WeymouthHighSchoo...ijasingular.doc

 

Edited January 17, 2008 by goose