‘Mona Lisa’ Bridge Might Have Just Been Identified By Art Historian
Photo 97806860 © Amira Aziz | Dreamstime.com
600 years on, the Mona Lisa remains an enigma to all. Now, one art historian who has been studying the masterpiece for years believes he may have identified the bridge in the background of the Leonardo da Vinci work.
The Italian researcher, Silvano Vinceti, says he is convinced that the structure in the backdrop is the Romito di Laterina bridge in the Tuscan province of Arezzo.
Explaining to reporters at the foreign press association in Rome, Vinceti said the most compelling clue was in the number of arches in the bridge, which aligns with the four arches that the Romito had. It couldn’t have been Ponte Buriano, which has six arches, or the Ponte Bobbio, which has more than six, Vinceti speculated.
There’s a bridge in the Mona Lisa, you ask? Yes there is, and it’s circled right here:
Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Today, only one of the six arches stands at the Romito.
The researcher said he scoured historical papers, including documents stating that the bridge was “very busy, [and] functioning” between 1501 and 1503, to find proof. The Romito, stretched across the Arno river, was a shortcut that reduced the travel time between Arezzo, Fiesole, and Florence by several hours.
He also matched the findings with current drone imagery to determine the supposed location of the background in the Mona Lisa, which was painted between 1503 and 1519.
“The distinctive form of the Arno along that stretch of territory corresponds to what Leonardo portrayed in the landscape to the left of the noblewoman depicted in the famous painting,” Vinceti told journalists.
The scholar pointed out that Da Vinci had been in the Val d’Arno area during the time the most famous painting in the world was believed to be created.
The theory has delighted locals of the small town, which only has about 3,500 residents. Laterina mayor Simona Neri says the village is building a cycle path along a portion of the Arno, and she hopes its supposed ties to the Mona Lisa will help bring in more visitors.
[via The Guardian and The Daily Beast, images via various sources]
