Archaeologists, working in Florence, are convinced that they have uncovered the remains of the woman believed to have posed for Leonardo Da Vinci’s famed Mona Lisa portrait.

The skeleton, unearthed beneath the medieval Convent of Saint Ursula in Florence, is believed to be that of Lisa Gherardini. The model who many experts and historians agree was the woman who posed for Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, which was completed in early in the 16th century. Gherardini was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a local merchant. After he died she became a nun and spent the rest of her life in the convent.

“We don’t know yet if the bones belong to one single skeleton or more than one,” archaeologist in charge of the excavation works Silvano Vinceti explains. Yet in his opinion the find confirms, “that in St. Ursula convent there are still human bones and we cannot exclude that among them there are bones belonging to Lisa Gherardini.”

Excavations began at the site last year and to date, a female skull and several other bone fragments have been found, all of which will undergo DNA testing which will be compared to Gherardini’s contemporary descendant’s DNA. If the tests return a positive result specialists will attempt to reconstruct her face and uncover the secrets of her mysterious smile.

The dig itself was no walk in the park and archaeologists had to work their way through a thick layer of concrete laid years earlier in an attempt to convert the convent into barracks for soldiers. Using ancient maps and documents, the remains were found exactly where they were expected to be, in “a crypt reached via a gate and staircase”.

The search for the bones is not without its controversy though, and one of her descendants, Natalia Guicciardini Strozzi, an Italian princess, has gone as far as to call it a “sacrilegious act”. Last year, when the initial hunt at the convent began, she spoke out.

My ancestor’s remains should be left to rest in peace. What difference would finding her remains make to the allure of Leonardo’s painting? The attempt to find her bones seems to me an inappropriate and sacrilegious act.

She makes a fair point though, will the discovery of the bones have any real impact on the famed masterpiece? Let us know what you think in the comments.

[Source: HuffPost, RT, news.com.au]