The mystery of Mona Lisa lasts for centuries and every now and then a new theory about her identity sees the light of the day. The newest one: Leonardo made a self-portrait. For this one you need a lot of imagination.
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The famous painter Leonardo Da Vinci, who died in 1519 at age 67, was originally buried in the Chateau Amboise in France's Loire Valley, after serving for three years as the kings painter. Chateau was destroyed after the French Revolution in 1789 and it is believed that his remains were reburied in the castle's smaller chapel of Saint-Hubert in 1874. An inscription above the tomb simply says "Leonardo da Vinci" and it is presumed that Leonardo in fact lies down there.
We all learned in school that the person in the painting is thought to have been Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant. However, every historian has his own opinions and since the true identity is still unknown nobody can says is Mona Lisa actually Lisa del Giocondo or Leonardo's mother or some other woman of the time.
Now, being aficionados of the modern science and its technology miracle, the group of Italian experts wants to find Leonardo's skull and compare it with the famous painting. More recently, artist Lillian Schwartz has used computer programs to identify similarities between the features of the Mona Lisa and those of one of da Vinci’s true self-portraits. That was good enought for some scholars who are suggesting that da Vinci's presumed homosexuality and love of riddles inspired him to paint himself as a woman.
If granted permission, the Italian researchers plan to verify that the remains in Saint-Hubert are da Vinci’s by using carbon dating and comparing DNA samples from the bones and teeth with those of several male descendents buried in Bologna, Italy.
Bone tests could also reveal how da Vinci died, which is currently unknown. Diseases such as tuberculosis and syphilis, as well as lead poisoning, would appear in the bones. The researchers noted that syphilis was seen as a form of plague at the time, killing about 20 million people in the first quarter of the 16th century.
However, that theory has so many loopholes that it stinks miles around. First, nobody know for sure where Leonardo's grave is. Second, there's no known descendants alive so DNA test can' be performed. Third, if Leonardo is in the chapel of Saint-Hubert his remains can be in unrecognizable state. Taking all that into account we think that that's a long shot and that Italian experts are more likely to get media attention than some useful data. Although curiosity led to many significant scientific discoveries, we think that Leonardo should be left in peace. ■