Ask anyone to name a painting and it is a pretty good chance that they will say the “Mona Lisa.” It was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci and hangs in the Louvre in Paris. If you are ever there, look for a crowd of people gathered around one picture. That will be the Mona Lisa. It is not a large painting but it has stirred the curiosity of art historians and pretty much a lot of other people.
There are several reasons for this. The first is the question of what is the identity of the sitter. It is apparently a woman who has a look that has people guessing what she is thinking. It is an enigmatic smile but what is she looking at and why? As regards her true identity, there is still much debate. The favourite is that it is of Lisa Gherardini. She was the wife of a silk merchant by the name of Francesco del Giocondo. It was he who commissioned the artwork and so it does make sense that his wife is the model. In 2005 a note was found in the margin of a book written in 1503 which said she was indeed the subject.
However, in 2011, another more controversial theory emerged. The Italian art historian Silvano Vinceti stated that not only was the sitter not Lisa Gherardini but was not even a woman. Hence, my earlier use of the word, apparently. He maintained that it was a young apprentice in the studio of Da Vinci by the name of Gian Giacomo Caprotti who was also known as Salai. It was said he was an attractive youth and because it is known that Leonardo was a homosexual, Vinceti says he painted his lover. It is safe to say that there is not a great following for this theory and I have to agree it is much more likely it is Lisa Gherardini.
All very interesting, but the painting may hold other secrets to which we have not found an answer to. Close analysis of the painting has revealed what could be a real Da Vinci Code which has nothing to do with Dan Brown’s book of the same name. There appears to be code written in the eyes of the Mona Lisa and on a bridge in the background. The characters are tiny and you need a microscope to read them.
It was in 2010 that members of Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage were analysing some very large blow-ups of the painting when they noticed the letters LV in the right eye. This could stand for Leonardo Da Vinci. There are some characters in the left eye but it has been too difficult to decipher them. However, the bridge in the background appears to have either the number 72 on it or L2. These discoveries were not by accident. The researchers were following clues that had been found in a 50-year-old book in an antique shop which mentioned this.
There is one thing and that returns us to Da Vinci’s supposed lover, Salai. The supporters of this theory have reasoned that one of the characters found in the eyes is an S, referring to Salai. A little bit of a stretch perhaps.
Finally, there might be a way of identifying the sitter once and for all. Researchers say they are close to identifying the grave of Lisa Gherardini and when discovered, they hope to get permission to exhume the body in order to analyse her skull. From that, forensic science can rebuild her features and therefore the mystery might be solved. But don’t hold your breath.
John Pullen 