Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
Rome, Feb 3, (THAINDIAN NEWS) For years, the mysterious smile of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting Mona Lisa, has intrigued historians and experts who are still trying to unravel the hidden truths behind one of the best works of the legendary artist. Giving a whole new dimension to the mystery, researchers in Italy have revealed that the person portrayed in the painting might not be the Italian woman Lisa del Giocondo but it might actually be the portrait of a man. Italian researchers have reiterated that the person based on whom the famous Mona Lisa painting was edged by the iconic artist was one of his companion and possible lover, Gian Giacomo Caprotti.

Experts have said that Gian Giacomo Caprotti also known as Salai, was an effeminate young artist who was associated with Leonardo da Vinci for around two decades and while working for the artist, he is known to have served as a muse for many of the iconic Renaissance artist’s creations. While revealing details of the research, Silvano Vinceti, who is the chairman of the cultural heritage of the Italian national committee, said that intrinsic evaluation of the high-quality digital copy of the painting has divulged tiny letters L and S, hidden in the eyes of Mona Lisa, which the researchers feel is Leonardo da Vinci’s way of giving hints about the identity of the muse used for the portrait.

However, the claims made by Silvano Vinceti have been refuted by Paris’ Louvre Museum which has emphasized that after conducting ‘every possible laboratory test,’ in 2004 as well as later on 2009, “no inscriptions, letters or numbers, were discovered during the tests.”