Two more skeletons to help solve Mona Lisa mystery?

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Published time: October 03, 2012 13:05
Edited time: October 03, 2012 17:06

Archeologists have found two more skeletons on the site where Lisa Gerardini, who is believed to have been the model for Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous work was buried.

The remains – one whole skeleton and another skull and fragments of bones – have been found at the excavation site in Florence in what was the medieval Convent of Saint Ursula. Archeologists believe that these skeletons are female.

The newly discovered remains will be added to the five other skeletons, found during the year of excavation. The DNA in these bones will be compared to the DNA of Lisa del Gioconda’s descendants.

The researchers are hunting for Lisa Gerardini’s skull so they can recreate her face and see whether it was really her portrayed by the great Renaissance master.

Historians are convinced that Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo spent her last years in the Convent of Saint Ursula as a nun, after her husband died. She died in 1542 and is believed to buried beneath the Convent.

Mona Lisa.(AFP Photo / Jean-Pierre Muller)