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Silvano Vinceti announcing his latest Mona Lisa project in Italy PA Images/ Andrew Medichini

Human remains to be exhumed to recreate Mona Lisa smile

Controversial art historian says he believes he can reconstruct Da Vinci model’s face… as long as he can find her bones at all.

AN ITALIAN ART researcher has said he will exhume the remains of the woman who many believe to be the inspiration for the Mona Lisa in order to reconstruct her face.

Silvano Vinceti, who CBC news describes as a “self-styled historian, researcher and broadcaster”, announced his intentions today. He will take a team of researchers to the Convent of St Ursula in Florence to investigate the remains of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich patron of Leonardo da Vinci.

Art historians have long suggested that she could be the model for the enigmatic Mona Lisa. Her husband’s name was Francesco del Giocondo and the Mona Lisa is known in Italian as La Gioconda. Da Vinci is known to have painted a portrait of Lisa Gherardini at some point.

It won’t be an easy task. Vinceti’s team don’t know for sure where Lisa Gherardini is buried. They will use radar to search for tombs under the floor of the convent and then, if they find human remains, will try to identify bones that match a woman of her age. Then extensive carbon dating and DNA tests will have to be carried out on those remains to establish if they match those of Gherdini’s children, which are interred in a basilica in the city.

According to The Telegraph’s man in Milan, Nick Squires, the remains may not even be there as an expert of da Vinci says her bones were probably dumped in a rubbish site years ago when the convent was converted into a police barracks.

It is worth noting that Vinceti is the same historian who theorised earlier this year that the Mona Lisa was a portrait of a male apprentice and possible love of Leonardo da Vinci.

The New York Times’s Art Beat also notes that Vinceti has previously claimed to have dug up the bones of the artist Caravaggio and the poet Dante.

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    Mute Amanda Lee
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:27 AM

    I don’t understand why these anti choice loons aren’t arrested for harassment and/or trespassing? If it was any other group of people they would be reprimanded but because its”pro life”they get away with it?! Why are they being tolerated and getting preferential treatment?!

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    Mute Aoife Ni Riain
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    Jul 9th 2013, 11:13 AM

    I fully agree Amanda, it’s not fair to drive a person from their home. Arrests should be made.

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    Mute Tony Daly
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    Jul 9th 2013, 8:54 AM

    Anti-abortion zealots.

    Interesting that An Garda Siochana apparently told him that they were unable to guarantee his security. That has yet to be verified but, if it is true,

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    Mute Tony Daly
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    Jul 9th 2013, 8:58 AM

    Then it is shocking.

    Of course, you could not risk an escalation by arresting an anti abortion activist. That would cause mayhem.

    As we curtail all of the social, practical and economic supports for pregnant women, we concern ourselves with legislation.

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    Mute Frank Carty
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:11 AM

    What those pro life nuts did is terrorism. Ireland does not negotiate with terrorists.

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    Mute Mary
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:21 AM

    #7 My water pressure is already ridiculously low. Does that mean I won’t have to pay?!

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    Mute Eric Davies
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    Jul 9th 2013, 11:37 AM

    same here mary, not only is our water pressure low the water is full of limescale, have to de-scale our kettle every week (using lemon juice overnight , it’s much safer than chemical descalers and you only need rinse out the kettle once next morning.) ourshower head has to be done eery couple of weeks and we gave up on electric kettles ,they only lasted a month before the limescale rotted them, out emersionelement is replaced every 12 months too otherwise it blows all the fuses. we used to getgreatpressure here untill about3 yrs ago when the council replacedthe water meteres since then its been inconsistent to say the least, only hopewhen they replace the meteres this time they do the job properly for a change.

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    Mute Siobhan Feely
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:29 AM

    meanwhile the youth defence website has been hacked :)

    http://www.youthdefence.ie/index.html

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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:29 AM

    Anti-choice terrorist filthbags up to their old tricks again. Check out what they’re saying now! http://www.youthdefence.ie/index.html

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    Mute Patrick
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:32 AM

    They have to be mentally unstable.

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    Mute Niall Cavanagh
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    Jul 9th 2013, 11:56 AM

    It does not make sense to me why these pro life people are protesting. Isn’t the sole purpose of this legislation to clarify the x case ruling in the courts 20+ years. And the TDs that want to get the suicide clause removed! That’s the whole point of the legislation! Removing that would totally defeat the purpose of passing it at all!

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    Mute Marion Murphy
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    Jul 9th 2013, 10:48 AM

    Derek Keating one of the local pillars of the Catholic Church in Lucan, considering he is a Eucharistic Minister there I’m surprised the pro-aborts are so defenisive of him & concerned for his wellbeing.

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    Mute Drunk Tweets
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    Jul 9th 2013, 12:51 PM

    We’re concerned for his well-being because he’s a living human being, and not a cluster of cells that are a potential threat to a woman’s life.
    What he does in his spare time is his own business.

    What’s not surprising is that you and your youth defense ilk don’t really seem to care about actual living people.
    Yeah, your Facebook page isn’t too private.

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Jul 9th 2013, 7:04 PM

    What irony, a practising Catholic being harrassed and threatened by anti-abortion people. This legislation is for the whole of Ireland. TD’s have a duty to legislate according to the will of the people. Micheal Martin in allowing a free vote allowed TD’s in his party to evade their parliamentary duty.

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    Mute Michelle Bourke
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:29 AM

    #3 the domestic violence link is not working

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Jul 9th 2013, 9:34 AM

    Hmm, it seems to be working ok at this end. I’ll push a few buttons and see if something needs to be fixed.

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