The bridge in the background of the most famous portrait in the world, the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci, has been identified. That claims the Italian historian Silvano Vinceti.
According to Vinceti, it is a largely destroyed bridge over the Arno near the Tuscan town of Laterina, the so-called Leonardo de Romito bridge.
The identity of the smiling woman and the depicted bridge next to her left shoulder have been debated endlessly in the past. It is now generally accepted that Da Vinci portrayed the third wife of a Florentine textile merchant, Lisa Gherardini. The bridge has previously been identified as the Ponte Buriano, also at Laterina, and the Ponte Bobbio, in the northern Italian city of Piacenza.
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Number of arcs
Based on historical documents and drone footage, and by making comparisons between the painting and photographs of the area, Vinceti came to a different conclusion. The most telling detail, the historian told a press conference in Rome, is the number of arches: the bridge in the painting has four arches, just like the Romito used to have. The two bridges previously identified as those pictured had at least six arches.
Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa between 1503 and 1506. According to historical documents, the Romito Bridge was a frequently used bridge at the time, reducing the travel time between Arezzo, Fiesole and Florence by a few hours. Da Vinci regularly stayed in Fiesole at the time.
According to Simona Neri, the mayor of Laterina, Vinceti’s theory has caused a lot of excitement in the town. “We must try to protect what is left of the bridge. Money is needed for that.”