ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND MONA LISA'S SKULL

A “female-sized” skull was discovered in the burial grounds under the St. Ursula convent in Florence on May 19.

Researchers are searching for the bones of Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, the wife of a rich Italian silk merchant who has long been rumoured as the famous painting’s muse.

The Mona Lisa, which hangs in the Louvre in Paris, is also known as “La Gioconda.” It was painted in the early 1500s when Gherardini was alive. She is believed to have died in 1542.

The idea is to reconstruct her face using her real skull and compare it to the painting to see if they match.

The skull was found 1.5 metres under the convent’s original floor near fragments of human ribs and vertebrae, according to excavation officials.

Researchers will now compare DNA from the skull to bones of two children buried nearby who are believed to be Gherardini’s kids.

I THINK LEONARDO WOULD HAVE GOTTEN A BIG KICK OUT OF THIS,