Mona Lisa Dig Unearths Tombs and a Crypt Beneath Former Italian Convent






Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa


Archaeologists searching a former Italian church for the remains of the noblewoman thought to have inspired the Mona Lisa have unearthed a series of crypts, ANSA reported Thursday.
Experts are hoping to locate the tomb of Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, the wife of a rich Italian silk merchant who died in 1542. Many historians believe she was the model for Leonardo da Vinci's world-famous painting.
If they find enough of Giocondo's remains, Italian art historian Silvano Vinceti is hopeful of reconstructing part of her face so it can be compared to the Mona Lisa to determine whether she really was the inspiration for the portrait, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.
His team has been using a ground-penetrating "georadar" device to search the crumbling three-story Saint Orsola church in Florence, which subsequently became a tobacco factory and more recently a World War II shelter.
They removed a concrete floor and located a series of brick steps this week which they believe once led down to an underground crypt, ANSA said Thursday. The news agency went on to say the team discovered two tombs and a brick vault.
"The finding is consistent with our records," said Vinceti. "We should be where the altar once stood, and where a trapdoor led to the crypt we saw on the georadar scan."
Experts believe Giocondo moved into the convent following the death of her husband and eventually died there aged 63.
Natalia Guicciardini Strozzi, a member of one of Florence's oldest noble families and a direct descendant of Giocondo, has previously accused archaeologists of "sacrilege," arguing the secrets of the Mona Lisa and her enigmatic smile should remain a mystery.




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