'Mona Lisa' died in 1542, buried in Florence
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An expert on the "Mona Lisa" says he has ascertained with certainty
that the symbol of feminine mystique died on July 15, 1542, and was
buried at the convent in central Florence where she spent her final
days.
Giuseppe Pallanti found a death notice in the archives of a church in
Florence that referred to "the wife of Francesco del Giocondo,
deceased July 15, 1542, and buried at Sant'Orsola," the Italian
press reported Friday.
Born Lisa Gherardini in May 1479, she is thought to have been the
second wife of Del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant, with whom she had
five children.
While intrigue has surrounded the identity of the woman in the famous
unsigned, undated Leonardo da Vinci painting housed at the Louvre in
Paris, Lisa Gherardini is widely accepted to have been the subject.
Sant'Orsola, where she died at age 63, now disused and in ruins, is
near the San Lorenzo basilica.
"It was in this convent that Mona Lisa placed her youngest daughter
Marietta, who later became a nun. And it was there that Lisa, as
stipulated in the will of her husband who died four years before her,
ended her life," Pallanti told the daily La Repubblica.
Pallanti, author of "Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of
Leonardo's Model," has spent nearly three decades combing
Florence's archives.
Another researcher, Da Vinci expert Carlo Pedretti, praised Pallanti
for the discovery and urged a search at the site for Lisa
Gherardini's remains.
"Thanks to modern techniques, scientists can determine her physical
aspect, maybe even her face and thereby make an important
contribution" to establishing her identity, he told the ANSA news
agency.