Wizzard
- Traditionally, the subject of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was assumed to not be anyone in particular, with even one extravagant theory positing that it was a 'female self-portrait' of Leonardo. Nevertheless, many fictional works that included Da Vinci as Historical Domain Character would sometimes include a generic woman posing as a model. Turns out they were right: In 2005, it was discovered that Da Vinci was commissioned to paint a portrait of a Florentine noblewoman named Lisa del Giocondo ("Mona" is an Italian honorific, akin to "Miss" or "Madam"). Lisa’s husband was a silk merchant who was friends with Leonardo’s father and it’s believed the painting was commissioned to celebrate a pregnancy.
Either this is poorly phrased or I'm missing something, because I'm aware of at least two fictional works predating 2005 where the model is not "a generic woman", but a merchant's wife named Lisa del Giocondo (Batman: Dark Masterpiece and Good Omens). Maybe it was only confirmed in 2005, but it was certainly a popular assumption before then. (To be honest, assuming the most famous portrait in history isn't actually a portrait of anybody strikes me as weird, but I'm no art historian, so I daresay they had their reasons.)
EDIT: I've looked into it, and it seems this identification was first made in a book published in the sixteenth century, just a few decades after Leonardo's death. So I've no idea what the above's about. Common Knowledge says "The identity of the woman depicted in The Mona Lisa is not one of the greatest mysteries in human history, as is often claimed. It's a painting of Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant; that fact has been pretty well-known for centuries." So there's that.
Edited by DaibhidC
Does anyone else think this page is too long and needs to be split? This page is about previously held historical academic consenses that were later debunked or fell out of favor. I feel that a new page should be created for historical myths/misconceptions that were never accepted by historians to begin with.