The woman behind Mona Lisa

  

Mona Lisa, known as the most controversial painting, is created by Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci. It was painted between years 1503 and 1506 in Florence. Italy and was inherited by his apprentice, Gian Giacom Caprotti (also known as Salai). It is currently residing in Musêe de Louvre, Paris.
     But who is the woman behind the mysterious smile, the sitter of a masterpiece largely appreciated by the world? Mona Lisa is traditionally known as Lisa de Gherardini del Giocando (according to Giorgio Visari) the wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant-Francesco del Giocondo, who was said to be 14 years her senior. Various researches have told that she was at least 24 years old when she was painted as Da Vinci’s commission to celebrate their new home and the birth of their second son, Andreâ. Italian scholar and the one who published the ‘Mona Lisa Revealed’, have supported Lisa del Giocondo as the model. According to him, she has five kids and it was Da Vici’s father-Sir Piero Da Vinci, who is a friend of Sir Del Giocondo, have likely proposed his son to paint Lady Lisa. There is also wherein Da Vinci has spoke of a portrait “of a certain Florentine lady done from life at the request of the magnificent Giuliano de Medici”, but no further evidence that they have a link to each other.

     There were many explanations of Mona Lisa’s identity possibilities. Some have claimed that it was Leonardo’s ideal woman, a portrait of his assistant Salai and some claiming it is his mother. Lilian Schwartz suggested that it was Leonardo’s self portrait; Maike Vogt-Luersen said that it was the Duchess of Milan, Isabella of Aragon, pointing out that the pattern on the dark green dress is an indication of a member of the house of Visconti Sforza. With the discovery of the University of Heidelberg, it seems that the identity had been confirmed. It was told that Roman philosopher Cicero, a Florentine official and Da Vinci’s friend-Agostino Vespucci, has wrote that Da Vinci has indeed worked on the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo during 1503.

Sources from: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mona-lisa-%E2%80%93-portrait-lisa-gherardini-wife-francesco-del-giocondo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/oct/04/mona-lisa-leonardo-painting

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080115-AP-monalisa.html