Art detective claims Leonardo Da Vinci used a female and male model to create Mona Lisa's face

Record ID: 900536

  • Title: Art detective claims Leonardo Da Vinci used a female and male model to create Mona Lisa's face
  • Date: 25th April 2016
  • Summary: FLORENCE, ITALY (APRIL 20, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) HEAD OF ITALY'S NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PROMOTION OF HISTORIC AND CULTURAL HERITAGE, SILVANO VINCETI, SAYING: "I believe that this goes with a long-time fascination of Leonardo's, that is, the subject of androgyny. In other words, for Leonardo, the perfect person was a combination of a man and a woman."
  • Embargoed: 9th May 2016 10:51
  • Keywords: art face smile Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci Florence
  • Location: FLORENCE, ITALY / PARIS, FRANCE AND ANIMATION
  • City: FLORENCE, ITALY / PARIS, FRANCE AND ANIMATION
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
  • Reuters ID: LVA0074EV9GT5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    An Italian art detective said on Wednesday (April 21) he was convinced Leonardo da Vinci used both a female and male model in order to create the face of one of the art world's most famous women, the "Mona Lisa".
    The "Mona Lisa", known in Italian as the "Gioconda", hangs in Paris's Louvre museum and is possibly the most famous painting in the world, depicting a young woman with an enigmatic smile, her hands gently folded on her lap.
    Silvano Vinceti, who heads Italy's National Committee for the Promotion of Historic and Cultural Heritage, last year announced he had found the body of Lisa Gherardini who he says was the model for Da Vinci on the portrait.
    Now, he says his latest research has shown that Gherardini was not the only muse for Leonardo's Mona Lisa.
    "After extremely thorough research work in which we combined historical methods with the most advanced technology, we are finally able to solve a mystery; the real identity of Mona Lisa. There are many different theories around but the reality is that Leonardo used two different models. The first model was Lisa Gherardini, known as Mona Lisa del Giocondo. His second model was Gian Giacomo Caprotti, known as Salai. There is one indisputable element of proof which can be seen, with the use of infrared technology, in the first layer of the painting of Mona Lisa. In that layer we can see that she was not smiling and joyful but looked melancholic and sad," Vinceti said.
    Gherardini, who is thought to have sat for Leonardo, was the wife of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. Citing the words of Italian art historian and painter Giorgio Vasari, Vinceti said Gherardini looked too sad at the sittings and his husband, who had commissioned the painting, hired clowns to try to make her smile. His efforts failed to cheer up Gherardini and Leonardo was forced to use another model for the famous the smile to satisfy the requests of her husband.
    Vinceti said his team had spent a long time gathering evidence, comparing every feature of Gian Giacomo Caprotti painted by Leonardo to those of the Mona Lisa.
    "We have used all the paintings in which Leonardo used Salai as a model and compared them to the Mona Lisa and certain details correspond perfectly. So, he used two models and then added creative details which came from his own imagination," he said.
    In addition, the use of both a female and a male model corresponded with da Vinci's well-known interests, Vinceti said.
    "I believe that this goes with a long-time fascination of Leonardo's, that is, the subject of androgyny. In other words, for Leonardo, the perfect person was a combination of a man and a woman," he said.
    Archaeologists opened the Gioncondo family tomb in a Florence church and carried out DNA tests in order to confirm the identity of the woman who spent her final days in a convent in Florence.
    A number of bodies were uncovered, but carbon dating found that only a group of bone fragments came from the early 16th century when Gherardini lived and the Mona Lisa was painted.
    Vinceti and his team in 2010 said they had discovered that the mysterious death in 1610 of another Italian master, Caravaggio, was likely caused by lead from his paint.
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