Revealing Mona Lisa's whereabouts

The woman in the famous portrait of Leonardo da Vinci was born in an old Florentine house, Italy, and had a completely simple life.

The house was originally a handmade workshop of woolen workers, located a few hundred meters from the bridge Ponte Vecchio, in a small alley called Via Sguazza. According to the historian Giuseppe Pallanti, it was at Via Sguazza, the woman who created the famous painting of Leonardo was born on June 15, 479.

"It is not a pleasant place to live. Rainwater and sewage in front of the house," Pallanti, the author of Mona Lisa's Story , said.

Pallanti identified her as Lisa Gherardini, a member of the small aristocratic family in the suburbs. Later she married a Florentine rich silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo.

Pallanti's 25-year investigation also supports a first statement in 1550 by Giorgio Vasari. In a project called Lives of the Artists , this 16th-century painter and historian named the character in the painting Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo.

One of many other theories is that Francesco Del Giocondo ordered Leonardo to paint a picture to mark his wife's second pregnancy when she was about 24 years old."Mona Lisa really exists. Our new results show that she lives a very ordinary life and always struggles to get a decent home," Pallanti said.

Lisa's historic home

The researcher found evidence of Mona Lisa's birthplace in a 1480 tax return by Giovanbattista Corbinelli, who owned the building in Via Sguazza.

Lisa's birthplace. (Photo: Discovery)

"Corbinelli wrote that the previous year he turned two hand-crafted workshops of woolen workers into two small houses. A house for his nephew, the other one for two people, Anton Maria Gherardini and Lucrezia Del Caccia rented for the price. 16 fiorins a year, " Pallanti said. That is quite expensive rent, equivalent to the annual salary at that time.

According to Giuseppe Cacialli, who owns another craft factory in Via Sguazza, the Mona Lisa's birthplace remains but has been closed for decades. "I was born near that street but I have never seen the door of that house open for 50 years," Cacialli said.

As the owner of several properties in Chianti, the Gherardinis must have had a hard time after their daughter was born. By the time her daughter was 15 years old, her parents had lost their homes and had to rent the house of merchant Leonardo Busini in the Santa Croce district.

"It was really uncomfortable but I rented half of my house to Anton Maria Gherardini because they had no accommodation. We agreed that the contract would not last more than 3 years," Busini wrote in a Other tax statements that Pallanti found.

Relationship with Leonardo

"What's interesting about this house is Leonardo's father - a notary public named Ser Piero da Vinci - and Lisa's family is a neighbor. Ser Piero lives just across the street in Via Ghibellina , " Pallanti said. .

But Lisa only lived at Busini's house for a year. By 1495, when she was 16 years old, she was married to Francesco del Giocondo - 14 years older than her and had lost her first wife, Camilla Rucellai, the previous year.

Lisa's resting place. ( Photo: Discovery)

The girl moved to Del Giocondo's house in the San Lorenzo market. Although the house is very big and beautiful, the surrounding area is not ideal - whores are everywhere, like the Renaissance red light district. At that house, Lisa gave birth to 5 children: Piero, Andrea, Giocondo, Camilla and Marietta.

In the previous study, Pallanti found the will of Ser Francesco signed by notary Ser Piero, affirming that Leonardo's father and Lisa's husband knew each other.

"In that document, Francesco asked her daughter Marietta to take care of her beloved wife Lisa. Marietta, later to become a monk, to take her sick mother to the nearby Sant'Orsola monastery," Pallanti said.

Lisa's last years

A file called the Book of the Dead by Pallanti found in the church's data warehouse shows that Lisa died four years after her husband died, at age 63 and buried in Sant'Orsola.

The "La Gioconda " painting that the Italians call Mona Lisa has fascinated art lovers since it was completed in 1506.

Efforts to uncover the mystery of her famous smile as well as her status have given rise to many theories, including the claim that she is the mother of the painter, a noble woman, one Luxury prostitutes, even street girls.

There is a theory that people in the picture are a very happy pregnant woman, or she is carrying many diseases such as paralysis of her face or bad teeth.

"My research confirms that Lisa Gherardini and Mona Lisa are one. We may never know what is behind her smile, but we can be sure that she has a simple childhood and a life. live perfectly normal, " Pallanti said.

MT