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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Real Mona Lisa's Identity Confirmed, University Says


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Mona Lisa is Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo, according to book-margin notes written by a friend of Leonardo da Vinci while the artist worked on the masterpiece, the Heidelberg University said in a statement on January 14, 2008.

The university says the finding puts to rest once and for all speculation about the smiling model's identity.

Photograph by Stuart Gregory/Getty