Researcher finds death notice of Mona Lisa model

AN EXPERT on the Mona Lisa claims that the symbol of feminine mystique died on July 15, 1542, and was buried at the convent in central Florence where she had lived out her final days.

Giuseppe Pallanti found a death notice in the archives of a church in Florence that referred to “the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, deceased July 15, 1542, and buried at Sant’Orsola,” Italian press reported yesterday.

Born Lisa Gherardini in May 1479, she is thought to have been the second wife of Del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant, with whom she had five children.

While intrigue has surrounded the identity of the woman in the famous unsigned, undated Leonardo da Vinci painting housed at the Louvre in Paris, Ms Gherardini is widely accepted to have been the subject.

Mr Pallanti, author of Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of Leonardo’s Model, has spent nearly three decades combing Florence’s archives.

Da Vinci expert Carlo Pedretti praised Mr Pallanti for the find and urged a search at the burial site.

“Thanks to modern techniques, scientists can determine her physical aspect, maybe even her face,” he said.