The True Mona Lisa

A team of art historians, armed with the latest technical gadgetry, descend on a dilapidated convent in Florence on Wednesday. They're hoping to finally solve the mystery.


Italian art historians believe the woman who modeled for Leonardo da Vinci's painting back in the sixteenth century was the wife of a nobleman, Lisa Gherardini.

 But there is no definitive proof.

Scientist now plan to find the remains of Gherardini, reconstruct her face and prove she was the woman in one of the world's most famous paintings.
 

The search begins in the Saint Orsola convent, a structure in central Firenze. It's now almost reduced to ruins.

Little is visible of the small church that's believed to be where Gherardini is buried.

But using the latest in ground-penetrating radar equipment, scientists are scanning the floor in the church to pinpoint areas where they may start digging.

[Professor Francesco Mallegni, Paleoanthropologist, University of Pisa]:

"Here Gherardini spent the last few years of her life because she had two sons and two daughters and her daughters were nuns. One of these nuns looked after her in the last moments of her life and she was buried here."

But more scientific investigation would be required to confirm whether they have the right woman.

[Professor Francesco Mallegni, Paleoanthropologist, University of Pisa]:

"Many Florentine woman would have died at the age of 63 but we know that one of these women was buried here. To be sure we have to find the DNA in her bones, once we have found that we compare it with the DNA of her children who are buried at the Santissima Annunziata convent."

The radar equipment shows up areas under the flooring that could be where the bodies are buried.

 [Silvano Vinceti, President, Committee for Historic and Cultural Heritage]:

"We have a document confirming the burial of Gherardini in 1542 here in the convent. We have documents, never seen before from the nuns who wrote of the burial. In the 16th century, four people were buried here in this small church of Saint Orsola where we are searching for Gherardini. This machinery will give us an idea to a depth of 3 meters (9.8 ft.) what is underneath the floor and will give us a roadmap of where we can start digging afterwards." 

 It's not clear how long the project will need before coming to any conclusion.

 Da Vinci is believed to have finished the painting in 1519 just before his death.

 It is currently displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

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