The famous Leonardo da Vinci painting has been called the Mona Lisa or Gioconda, and is believed to be by the Italian noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo, but both the exact identity of the subject and the location of its background remain a mystery that calls for resolution.
Geologist and historian Ann Pizzorusso believes da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa in Lecco, near Lake Como, in Lombardy.
Combining both areas of her expertise, Pizzorusso says she has identified the bridge in the distant background of the painting, making the connection to the 14th-century bridge in Lecco, the ‘Azzone Visconti’.
Earlier, one historian who claimed to identify the bridge said that it was that of Laterina, a small town a little further south in Tuscany, while other historians have speculated that it is the famous Ponte Buriano bridge in Arezzo, Tuscany, or that of the town of Bobbie.
But Pizzorusso explains that such arched bridges were ubiquitous in Italy and Europe, many of which look identical to each other, so other aspects must be compared.
She told The Observer network: “It’s impossible to identify a location just by a bridge, everyone talks only about the bridge but they don’t look at other aspects such as the geology of the place.”
Geology says it has also identified the mountain range seen in the background of the Mona Lisa, which overlooks Lecco and Lake Como.
She adds that the mountains in Lecco are limestone and that Da Vinci depicts them in soft gray, the color closest to this rock formation.
Pizzorusso further adds that neither Bobbio nor Arezzo has a lake, as seems to be the case with the Mona Lisa.
“I have discovered the geological places of which he speaks in his notes; a spring, a waterline, things that still exist today.
Leonardo himself was an engineer who wanted to build an aqueduct from Milan to Como, but encountered difficulties during the work,’ said Pizzorusso as it is known that Da Vinci often visited Lombardy.
But many historians believe that the Mona Lisa is all imagined, and not a depiction of a real place or person.
To this Pizzorusso replied: ‘Historians can say that Leonardo used imagination But if you give this painting to a geologist, they will tell you what I am saying about Lecco. The similarities are many”./Metro.co.uk/
