Mona Lisa's IdentityConfirmed by Document

People always feel curious toward Mona Lisa, about her smile, about her identity. Who is she? Why does she smilelike that?



Mona Lisa's IdentityConfirmed by Document



The mystery over the identity of the womanbehind Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" painting has been solved once and for all,German academics at Heidelberg University announced.



Mona Lisa is "undoubtedly" Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, according to VeitProbst, director of the Heidelberg University Library.



Conclusive evidence came from notes written in October1503 in the margin ofa book.



Discovered two years ago in the library's collectionby manuscript expert Armin Schlechter, the notes were made by Florentine cityofficial Agostino Vespucci, an acquaintance of Leonardo da Vinci, in an editionof letters by the Roman orator, Cicero.



In his annotations, Vespucci wrote that Leonardo wasworking on three paintings at the time, including a portrait of Lisa delGiocondo.



"All doubts about the identity of the 'Mona Lisa'have been eliminated," the university said in a statement.



Vespucci's notes also "establish more preciselythe year the painting was done," the university said.



Until now, the only other source to have identifiedthe sitter in Leonardo's masterpiece as Lisa Gherardini, was the 16thcentury painter and art historian Giorgio Vasari.



In his work "Lives of the Artists," Vasarinamed Lisa Gherardini, the wife of the wealthy Florentine silk merchantFrancesco del Giocondo as the subject of the portrait and concluded thatthe portrait was painted between 1503 and 1506.



But doubts about Vasari's attribution have alwaysabounded since he was known to rely on anecdotal evidence.



The work is unsigned, undated and bears nothing toindicate the sitter's name. Attempts to solve the mystery surrounding herfamous smile as well as her identity have included theories that she was theartist's mother, a noblewoman, a courtesan, even a prostitute.


There have also been theories thatthe sitter was happily pregnant, or affected by various diseases ranging fromfacial paralysis to the compulsive gnashing of teeth.
"The German finding confirmsthat Vasari is indeed a reliable source," Giuseppe Pallanti, the author oftwo books on the "Mona Lisa," told Discovery News.
Pallanti was the first historianto identify the sitter in Leonardo's portrait as Lisa Gherardini,following 25 years of research.
"Indeed, I found documentsshowing that Leonardo's father -- a local notary, Ser Piero da Vinci -- andLisa's family were neighbors, living about 10 feet away from each other in ViaGhibellina," Pallanti said. "Leonardo met a pregnant Lisa in 1500 in Florence. In December 1502 she gave birthagain."
According to Pallanti’s research,Lisa Gherardini, a member of a minor noble family of rural origins, was born onJune 15, 1479, in a rather ugly house in Via Sguazza in Florence.
In 1495, when she was 16 yearsold, she married the merchant Francesco del Giocondo. Ser Francesco was 14years her senior and had lost his first wife, Camilla Rucellai, the previousyear.
The girl moved to Del Giocondo'shouse, located in today's San Lorenzo marketquarter. Though the house was big and beautiful, the surroundings were lessthan ideal. Prostitutes populated the area, which was a sortof Renaissance red light district.
In that house, Lisa gave birth tofive children: Piero, Andrea, Giocondo, Camilla and Marietta.
Pallanti was also able toreconstruct Lisa's last years. She died four years after her husband's death onJuly 15, 1542, at age 63, and was buried in the convent Saint Orsola.

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Urumqi

Urumqi
Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is located in an alluvial fan-shaped basin on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains. The city opens on to the Junggar Basin in the north. In the Mongolian language, Urumqi means "Beautiful Meadow." Hongshan Hongshan Mountain is the highest spot in the center of the city. Hongshan's main peak is 464 meters above sea level. With towering crags, the mountain was named after the cliffs, which gleam red in the sun's rays every morning and evening. The upper part of the mountain looks like the head of a tiger, so it is also called "Tiger Head Mountain." It faces Yamalike Mountain, less than 1,000 meters away. At the foot of the mountain is the Urumqi River, flowing from north to south. On the top of Hongshan Mountain is a statue of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) national hero Lin Zexu. Standing at the "Yuantiao (looking far into the distance) Tower" on the mountain, one can view the whole city. Heaven Lake Tianchi (Heaven Lake) Natural Landscape Reserve is located at the foot of 5,44-meter Bogda Peak, the highest mountain in the eastern part of the Tianshan range. It covers an area of 158 square kilometers, including the 71-square-kilometer Tianchi Scenic Area, within which are 20 major scenic spots. Located in the north-central part of the scenic area, Tianchi Lake is 1,910 meters above sea level, 3.3 kilometers long and one kilometer wide on average. The lake stores 160 million cubic meters of water all the year round. Tianchi Lake freezes up in late October and thaws in early May. In the meantime, the lake's surface is covered with ice one meter thick. In summer, the temperature stays at around 20 degrees C. It is a pleasant and comfortable place. Tianchi is not only a summer resort, but also a good alpine skating rink in winter. Coming from a glacier, the water of Tianchi Lake is pure and the ice surface is smooth. With a gentle breeze blowing most of the time, it is an ideal place for skating competitions. No.1 Glacier No. 1 Glacier is the source of the Urumqi River, located 120 kilometers form Urumqi on Mount Tiangar. It is 3,800 meters to 4,000 meters above sea level, 2.4 kilometers long, averages 500 meters wide and covers an area of 19,500 square kilometers. Surrounding it are 76 large and small younger glaciers. Notes: 1. Urumqi 2. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 3. Junggar Basin