Copyright 2010 - Donya Lane & Ed McNamee
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Historical Landscape of the Play
In 1503, two very different projects competed for Leonardo's time and talents. One was the portrait of Lisa Gioconda, the other a "brilliant" military scheme to capture neighboring Pisa. The ill-fated plan, commissioned by Niccolo Machiavelli, called for a massive canal to be dug, diverting the Arno River and cutting off Pisa's water supply.
In the same period, Leonardo's continuing explorations into flight and anatomy would fluster not only the progress of these projects but the aspirations of other patrons who sought to employ his unique brilliance, principally Isabella D'Este, a leading art collector of the Renaissance. Isabella's jealousy of other women who had been immortalized by Leonardo would not allow her to take "no" for an answer.
With "the Pisa Plan" floundering, Machiavelli aimed to keep Da Vinci on Florence's payroll by commissioning him to paint a huge mural at the City Hall. Here too he would be unsatisfied.
Through all of these years (and Isabella's perennial petitions), Leonardo continued to work, albeit slowly on Lisa's portrait - much to the frustration of Lisa's husband Francesco, who had commissioned it.
Then in 1508, Leonardo suddenly moved to Milan, taking the Lisa's portrait with him, never yielding to Francesco or Isabella's demands, and leaving Machiavelli embarrassed by their two failed collaborations.
His obsession with Lisa's portrait caused many forces to align against him and raised many questions. All of which will finally be answered in the songs and story of "La Gioconda."
The Riddle of Mona Lisa's Identity
is Finally Solved ~ Florence, Italy Oct. 1, 2004
Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the world's most enduring symbol of feminine mystique, is actually a portrait of the virtuous wife of a family friend.
After five centuries in which historians have debated the identity of Da Vinci's subject, new research has supported the claim that the mysterious smile belongs to Lisa Gioconda, the wife of a wealthy silk merchant.
Italian scholar, Giuseppe Pallanti, who spent 25 years researching city archives, has discovered the first clear evidence that Da Vinci's family was closely connected to the silk trader, Francesco Giocondo, who supplied textiles to the Medici family.
A recent work of fiction, "The Da Vinci Code," suggested that Mona Lisa was Leonardo's disguised self-portrait, based on observations that Da Vinci's own facial features could be closely aligned with those of The Mona Lisa. But Pallanti's new research shows beyond any doubt that she was a real person!
The enigmatic nature of the work has spawned many alternative theories. Among those who've been suggested as possible subjects are Isabella D'Este, various courtesans and prostitutes, and Da Vinci's own mother.
Pallanti's book highlights the small village in Florence where Da Vinci lived and where Lisa prayed regularly in a chapel owned by her husband's family.
Key parts of the mystery continue on however as Mr. Pallanti reports that he has found no record of Lisa's death. Now, precisely 500 years after Leonardo's work on her portrait began, Lisa's identity and fate may at last be known simply as "La Gioconda."
