Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is probably
the world’s most famous painting. But whose portrait actually is it? There are
two clues to the identity of the mysterious young woman, but they are mutually
exclusive. Can the riddle ever be solved? Every year, millions of visitors view
the portrait exhibited in the legendary Louvre in Paris. But what makes the
"Mona Lisa" so special? Who is hidden behind this smiling and yet sad
face? Who was Leonardo's model? Or is she even the imaginary image of an ideal
beauty? Experts have been wrestling with this question for centuries. There
seems to be evidence for two explanations. Both variants have been handed down
in writing, but they are not compatible. The most recognized theory goes back
to the biographer Giorgio Vasari. According to him, the portrait is of Lisa del
Giocondo, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant who had commissioned the work
from Leonardo in 1503. But this is contradicted by a note of the chronicler
Antonio de Beatis dating back to 1517, in which da Vinci states that he
produced the painting at the request of Giuliano de' Medici. The artist said it
was an imaginary representation de' Medici's mistress Pacifica Brandani, with
whom de’Medici had an illegitimate son. Within the community researching Leonardo
today, both theories have their supporters. Using elaborate reconstructions,
original locations and scientific methodology, this documentary delves deep
into the time of Leonardo da Vinci.
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