UnNews:Excitement at digging up dead woman's grave

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10 August 2013

The Mona Lisa has enchanted art lovers for centuries.

Archaeologists could barely contain their excitement today at the prospect of raiding a 500 year old tomb in Florence in the hope of identifying the real Mona Lisa.

The tomb contains the family of Lisa Gherardini, a silk merchant's wife who is believed to have sat for the artist. It is hoped DNA will help to identify her from three skeletons found last year in a nearby convent.

Italian art professor Joanna Corey explained, "For centuries, art fans puzzled over Mona Lisa's identity and that cryptic smile. It is only today, with DNA technology and a complete disregard for the dead, that we are close to finding out the truth."

"Just imagine, 500 years ago. That woman, posing for that artist, had no idea she would go down in immortality, nor that we would dig her and her family up, shake their arms so it looked like they were waving to each other, and stick suggestive looking bones in their rotted mouths."

Sources

• Leverage, "Florence tomb opened in quest to find 'Mona Lisa'" BBC, August 09, 2013