What’s hidden behind Monalisa’s smile…

Lisa Gherardini, born in Florence in June 1479, was married at the age of 15 years to a much older Francesco del Giocondo, who was a wealthy 30-year-old merchant and widower in 1495.

LONDON: Mona Lisa – the enigmatic muse of Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting – was married off to a much older slave trader at the age of 15, according to a new book which suggests that her dark life may hold the secret to her mysterious smile.

In the book Mona Lisa: The People and The Painting, authors Martin Kemp from the UK and Giusepps Pallanti from Italy reveal the events of the dark life of of Lisa Gherardini – the painting’s real-life Mona Lisa – and others invo ..