Mona Lisa Margin Note Discovery

The Mona Lisa’s long-debated identity and creation date gained a major confirmation in 2005, when a German researcher found a verified handwritten note in the margin of a book. The note stated that Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci was painting a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo in 1503. That small marginal clue helped support the long-standing idea that the world’s most famous portrait showed Lisa, the wife of Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo.

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