Posted on 01/14/2008 6:13:34 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
German academics believe they have solved the centuries-old mystery behind the identity of the "Mona Lisa" in Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait.
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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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Lisa del Giocondo , Mona Lisa
one of the best painters ever!!!
Alright, with that smile, ya think Leo was doing Lisa?
LOL- too funny!
If Hillary Clinton is elected, maybe someone in the non-political White House staff could plant it in the tour area.
or in the copying machines ;)
That’s just wrong ...
I so regret walking into this thread. ...
one of the best painters ever!!!
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Better than Kieth Haring? *kidding*
Very cool Vinnie.
Regards
wow! that is cool. thanks. i still love to use paint. simple but effective.
I had to save that one!
What makes the Mona Lisa such an amazing portrait, in its own time and even now still today, is the self confidence the subject displays and Leonardo captured her spirit perfectly.
She is not beautiful in a truly physical sense, but she is absolutely beautiful in the serenity she emotes.
She seems to be so comfortable within her own skin; not falsely demure or outwardly vain, but then she is not at all apologetic for being who she really is. There is intelligence behind those eyes and that subtle smile tells us she has an intellectual curiosity about the world around her the perfect Renaissance woman.
I could imagine that Leonardo might have even secretly been in love with her.
Mona Lisa had a nice outlook on life, with that smile.
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