Firenze, Italy (AFP / AKI) - A number of archaeologists in Florence, Italy, has found a skull believed to be a noble heritage enshrined in the painting "Mona Lisa", masterpiece painted by Leonardo Da Vinci 500 years ago.
Excavations carried out at the beginning of this month in what was formerly a convent Saint Orsola, precisely at the tomb of Lisa Gherardini - the wife of a rich silk merchant Francesco del Gioncondo - after his death in July 1542 at the age of 63 years.
The tomb contains the bones of an adult female that is some parts of the skull and hip bones have been removed, said Giorgio Gruppioni coordinator of the excavation.
"The skull and hip bones have been damaged by the weight of the soil," he said, also a professor of archeology at the University of Bologna.
Some parts of the skull and pelvic bone must first be removed before the archaeologists can determine the sex of the bones, he said.
When they find a skull, a group of scientists that can reset the possibility of the woman's face, comparing with a portrait of the famous painting Mona Lisa's identity and uncover the mystery over several centuries.
That historians will compare the DNA with two children were buried in the church Santissima Annunziata, Firenze, to prove his identity, though some experts say the last portrait of Da Vinci is an illustration of some other face.
Da Vinci's masterpieces hanging behind a bullet-proof glass in the Louvre museum in Paris.
Most historians agree that women with a smile full of mystery which is reflected in the painting is a Del Giocondo, who became a nun after her husband's death.
