Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings in the world, is shrouded in mystery; from questions about her identity, to her stunning and enigmatic expression. However, at least one of the secrets of the artwork has been revealed, according to an Italian geologist.
Ann Pizzorusso, who is both a geologist and art historian specializing in the works of Da Vinci and the Renaissance, believes that she has located the Mona Lisa using her geological expertise.
Three decades ago, Pizzorusso visited the town of Lecco on the southeastern shore of Lake Como in Italy, where she believes the painting was made, retracing Leonardo's movements through journal entries and drawings by the artist.
"In his notebook he mentions being in Leço," she told CNN in a phone interview.
"He worked as an engineer."
According to Pizzorussos, the project Leonardo was working on was cancelled, but his geological field sketches remained (a red chalk drawing of the ranges near Lecco is in the Royal Collection at Windsor, London).
While Pizzorusso is not the first to theorize the location of the Mona Lisa (in 2011, one art historian attributed the painting's landscape to a small town called Bobbio, while another to Arezzo), she believes she is the first geology that has reached this conclusion.
Previous calculations have focused on the arched bridge over Mona Lisa's right shoulder. However, Pizzorusso insists that more can be gleaned from the unique rock formation on the horizon.
"Bridges are interchangeable," she said.
"If you look in the background, you will see the peaks. It is a type of erosion that occurs in the limestone that has fractures in it and breaks off into blocks, almost like a saw tooth pattern… We can say that limestone exists in Lecco. When you look at the Mona Lisa, there's a series of mountains in the background that have this sawtooth pattern.”
Similarly, the water behind the Mona Lisa is geologically specific, believed by Pizzorusso to be Lake Como – a subalpine glacial lake dating back some 10,000 years.
"If you look behind it, you have elongated glacial lakes that have a distinctive finger shape," she said. "Because when the glacier moved, it wiped out some parts of the land."
While the pairing of earth science and art history may seem odd, Pizzorusso argues that the interdisciplinary approach can enrich the experience of viewing Leonardo’s work. But the discovery may only lead to more mystery. If the location is Lecco, as Pizzorusso suggests, more questions remain about why the famous painter chose that particular place, for this particular portrait.
"We don't know who Mona Lisa is, some believe she was the wife of a wealthy Tuscan merchant," she said, referring to a popular historical theory that suggests the figure was based on Italian noblewoman Lisa Gherardini.
"Why did you put him in this wild, harsh environment? This is not Tuscany. What was he trying to tell us by placing this quiet, enigmatic lady in this harsh, alpine setting?” Pizzorusso said.
"I'm really intrigued as to what his message was for us."
