Mona Lisa's Florence

Review of MONA LISA: A Life Discovered

Florence is a magical city. Upon receiving my college degree, I was fortunate to have won a generous scholarship from the Patrons of Italian Culture in Los Angeles and studied in Florence for a summer program. It was there I learned to speak the language of my ancestors and fully embraced the beautiful Italian culture. For anyone who loves Florence, Mona Lisa, a Life Discovered is the book for you. Read more →

An Interview about the Real Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa, La Gioconda from Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, was a real person. And we’re not talking about a self-portrait of the artist, as you may think. Mona Lisa was a real Florentine woman, born and raised in Florence under the name of Lisa Gherardini. To learn all the details of this amazing story, we spoke to the author of the book Mona Lisa, A Life Discovered, Dianne Hales, who gave us this exclusive interview Read more →

Celebrating Mona Lisa's Birthday--and Monnalisa Day

In a tradition that started six years ago, Lisa's hometown celebrates her birthday with a festival. This week Via Sguazza will be decorated in art honoring "la musa rinascimentale-icona pop" (the Renaissance muse-pop icon). Everyone is invited to attend. Click here for more information on the Monnalisa Day Facebook page. Read more →

New Life for Mona Lisa's Final Resting Place

Mona Lisa Gherardini, the woman with the world's most recognized smile, celebrates her 538th birthday this month. The mother of six children lived quietly as a merchant's wife in Florence. Yet mysteries have long surrounded her. The greatest, still unsolved, is why the renowned Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci chose to paint her portrait. For centuries, scholars puzzled over another question: Where and when did she die? Read more →

Mona Lisa's Smile

More than five centuries after Leonardo painted the world’s most famous portrait, Mona Lisa continues to fascinate the world. Is she beaming or brooding? Do her lips curl in a smile or sneer? Is her expression sultry, seductive, melancholy—or merely mysterious? Read more →

Celebrating the Quintessential Renaissance Artist

The consummate Renaissance man was born on April 15, 1452 in rural Anchiano, a hamlet near the town of Vinci. His mother, Caterina, was an unmarried country girl. His father Piero, a legal professional called a notaio, moved to Florence shortly thereafter and wed a socially suitable bride. Young Leonardo, listed as “non legittimo” in the local tax records, grew up in his paternal grandparents' home. Read more →

Mona Lisa's Italian Adventure

After art experts from the Uffizzi and the Louvre confirmed that the portrait brought to Florence was indeed Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, many Florentines hoped that “their” Lisa would remain in residence. However, the Italian government immediately began arrangements to deliver the painting to the French—and to do so “with a solemnity worthy of Leonardo and a spirit of happiness worthy of La Gioconda’s smile.” Read more →

Mona Lisa's Return to Florence

In 1913, two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was recovered in a hotel room in Florence. This excerpt from Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered describes the dramatic scene Read more →

R.I.P., Mona Lisa

For years, Silvio Vinceti, a self-styled tomb raider with no scientific credentials but a knack for generating publicity , led the international media on a merry but misguided quest for the bones of Mona (Madame) Lisa Gherardini, the Florentine woman immortalized in Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait. The dubious pursuit ended last month with an utterly predictable result: no conclusive findings. Read more →

Now in Paperback!

In spite of the Mona Lisa's international fame, the life and times of the portrait’s subject have largely remained a mystery —until now. In MONA LISA: A Life Discovered, now available in paperback (Simon & Schuster, August 2015, $16.00), award-winning author Dianne Hales finally reveals the woman behind the iconic smile. Read more →