Following on from my post "Mysterious Mona Lisa" in August 2013, please find some more news updates on this enigmatic Renaissance woman:
From: Haaretz: The man who saved Mona Lisa from the Nazis -
On the eve of World War II, 4,000 works of art were secretly taken from walls of The Louvre and hidden away in various locales around France. A new documentary tells the story of an extraordinary rescue mission.
Link: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/leisure/.premium-1.645657
From Live Science: Did da Vinci create a 3D Mona Lisa -
Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" painting may be part of the oldest 3D artwork, say two visual scientists. In 2012, scientists discovered that beneath layers of black paint, a seemingly insignificant "knock-off" of the "Mona Lisa" in the Museo del Prado in Madrid was in actuality very close to the original hanging in the Louvre Museum in Paris, revealing the same subject with the same mountain landscape background. That painting may have been painted by Da Vinci or possibly one of his students.
Link: http://www.livescience.com/45309-mona-lisa-3d-created.html
From The Independent: The dig that may have unearthed Leonardo's muse -
There's no trace of that celebrated, knowing expression, but archaeologists hope that one of two skeletons unearthed in a Tuscan convent will be shown to be that of the model who became Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. In their hunt for the remains of the most famous portrait-sitter in history, experts have been digging in the former convent of St Ursula in Florence since April. They have previously found and disregarded the bones of five other people.
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/the-dig-that-may-have-unearthed-leonardos-muse-8196544.html
From The Telegraph: Who was Mona Lisa? -
Italian researchers edged closer to solving one of the greatest mysteries in art history on Thursday – the identity of the Renaissance woman who posed for Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, the Louvre’s greatest treasure and one of the world’s most famous paintings.
After spending four years excavating human remains from beneath a centuries-old convent in Florence, researchers have zeroed in on a small collection of bones that they believe may have belonged to Lisa Gherardini, the Florentine silk merchant’s wife whom many scholars believe was the model for Leonardo’s masterpiece.
The research team revealed on Thursday that carbon-14 dating showed that the bones, which included a femur, dated from around the time that Gherardini died, in July 1542, at the age of 63.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11888685/Who-was-Mona-Lisa-Burial-breakthrough-may-solve-the-identity-mystery-behind-Da-Vinci-masterpiece.html
From Live Science: Why does Mona Lisa's smile change -
Strolling through the Louvre, you stop at Leonard da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Initially, she appears to be smiling; but as you move your gaze, the expression changes — not so happy anymore. Among the top questions baffling art enthusiasts is the elusive grin. Did da Vinci intentionally create the ambiguous appearance?
Link: http://www.livescience.com/32483-why-does-mona-lisas-smile-change.html
From Ancient Origins: Unmasking Mona Lisa -
Experts believe the woman depicted in the famous painting is Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, and that several remains found in a convent in Florence in 2011 could be her. They exhumed Del Giocondo family members who were buried in a separate family tomb that was opened in 2013 for the first time in centuries in an attempt to determine if it is really her through DNA matching. However, DNA tests on Gherardini’s sons reportedly failed.
The chair of Italy's National Committee for the valorization of historic, cultural and environmental heritage, Silvano Vinceti says that comparison of DNA from the remains found in the convent to that of Gherardini's children, who are buried in the family tomb, will not be possible, as previously thought, reports Arts Culture & Style (ANSA). Vincenti tells ANSA that “extracting DNA from Gherardini's family was impossible.”
Link: http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/unmasking-mona-lisa-will-scientists-discover-her-true-identity-020253
From Archaeology News Network: C-14 results to shed light on Mona Lisa's identity -
Carbon-14 results on the remains of three people exhumed from Florence's Sant'Orsola convent will soon reveal whether they include those of a woman thought to have sat for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting, researcher Silvano Vinceti said Thursday.
If the carbon-14 test results will confirm "that the three human remains date back to the 16th century" and that one of three is likely to have died during a period coinciding with Gherardini's demise, "then it will be possible to confirm, with a very high probability, that we have found the Gioconda".
Link: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/c-14-results-to-shed-light-on-mona.html#.VP2DswWp-Up.facebook#CXMTDbZgf651yYj1.97
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