Archaeologists on Tuesday unearthed a skeleton in a rare state of preservation in Florence in what they believe may be a crucial step towards unravelling the mystery of the identity of the woman with the most enigmatic smile in the world.

Several bodies have been discovered in the hunt to find the mortal remains of Lisa Gherardini, the Florentine noblewoman widely believed to have served as the muse for Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa".

Silvano Vinceti, who heads up the team of Italian archaeologists, said this latest discovery in an abandoned convent was particularly exciting -- though tests would still have to be carried out to ascertain the identity of the remains.

"I'd say that we've got to the really exciting part for researchers," said Vinceti, who specialise in resolving art mysteries.

"The culmination of all our work where we're getting close to answering the key question, 'will we or will we not find Lisa Gherardini's remains?'."

"Today we opened another tomb, with a complete skeleton which is very important because in the first phase of the research we did not find human remains, they had been moved to another location," he said.

The team began digging up the convent's new cement floor last year, after fresh documents confirmed that Gherardini, the wife of rich Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, had lived in the convent after her husband died and was looked after by her two daughters who were nuns.

She was eventually interred there.

Del Giocondo is thought to have commissioned the portrait from the Renaissance artist, and though there is little proof, most art historians agree that Lisa Gherardini served as the primary model for the bewitching painting.

It was composed between 1503 and 1506 and now hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris.

Although the researchers had previously discovered bits of bones and two sets of remains in the convent, the latest skeleton to be unearthed is the best preserved, crucially, with the skull intact.

It also lies close to the tiny nunnery's Franciscan altar, thereby placing the grave in the right historic period.

But as with the previous remains, this skeleton may also prove to be unrelated. In that case, new digs will begin in September, to unearth other bodies the researchers believe lie on the other side of the alter, in a larger grave.

The next step for now is to send the latest remains off for a series of tests to confirm they belong to Gherardini. The team then hopes to reconstruct her face and compare it with the facial features in the painting.

"Carbon-14 dating allows us to date the period, and we have to find out whether the remains date to the middle of the 16th century.

"We will then do tests to prove the age of the person when they died: we know Gherardini died between the age of 62 and 63," said Vinceti, who is also chairman of the Italian national committee for cultural heritage.

"Then comes the biggest test, the DNA, because we have the mortal remains of her children... and if it corresponds, we'll know these remains belong to Mona Lisa's model," he said.

If her identity is confirmed, the researchers will begin the two-month process of reconstructing the skeleton's face.

The true identity of "Mona Lisa" and her smile have intrigued art lovers around the world for centuries, and the archaeologists working on the digs say it is incredible to be this close to revealing one of the world's best kept secrets.

"It's a great feeling, particularly because here we're working on a really well-known character -- an icon.

"It's a fantastic sensation to know I'm working on something which will go down in history," said Giovanni Roncaglia, one of the team's assistant archaeologists.

Vinceti has studied the portrait for years and recently claimed to have found symbols hidden in the portrait.

He believes that the Florence-born Renaissance artist's male apprentice and possible lover Salai was one of the inspirations for the picture, but that Gherardini is the main star.

With this latest discovery, the art detective hopes to finally have uncovered the truth. (AFP)

<한글 기사>

모나리자 실제 모델의 "숨겨진 비밀"

중세 이탈리아를 대표하는 천재 미술가 레오나르도 다빈 치의 걸작 '모나리자'의 실제 모델 유해발굴 작업에 속도가 붙고 있어 모나리자 제작을 둘러싼 신비가 풀릴지 관심이 모아지고 있다.

유해발굴 작업을 이끌고 있는 미술사학자 실바노 빈센티는 24일(현지시간)  "모 나리자의 실제 모델로 알려진 리자 게라르디니의 것으로 추정되는 유골을 피렌체의 옛 수녀원 터에서 추가 발견했다"고 밝혔다.

발굴팀은 지금까지 옛 수녀원 건물 지하 무덤에서 뼛조각 등 유해 일부를 찾아 낸 바 있으나 이번에 발견된 유골은 두개골 부분이 완벽한 상태로 보존돼 있는 등 보존상태가 좋아 신원확인 작업에 속도가 붙을 것으로 전망되고 있다.

빈센티 박사는 "모나리자 실제 모델의 정체를 확인하기 위한 연구가 매우 흥미 진진한 단계에 도달하고 있다"며 "유골 주인이 리자 게라르디니인지 여부를 확인하기 위한 발굴팀의 작업이 정점에 근접하고 있다"고 말했다.

이탈리아 사람들은 모나리자의 실제 모델로 알려진 이 여인을 남편 프란체스코 델 지오콘도의 성(姓)인 `델 지오콘도'로 부른다.

미술사학자 주세페 팔란티는 2007년 발간한 책을 통해 피렌체에 있는 수녀원 지 하가 모나리자의 유골이 묻힌 장소가 틀림없다며 "레오나르도의 집 맞은편에 살았던 피렌체 상인 프란체스코 델 지오콘도의 아내가 바로 모나리자"라고 주장했다.

이탈리아 연구자들에 따르면 리자 델 지오콘도는 1495년 16살의 나이로 당시 35 살이던 남편과 결혼했으며, 남편이 1542년 사망해 수녀원 지하 묘소에 안장된 후 수 녀가 됐다.

빈센티 박사는 "발굴된 유골의 연대와 사망 연령 등을 확인한 뒤 이 뼈의 DNA와 리자 무덤 인근에 묻힌 두 자녀의 유해에서 추출한 DNA를 비교 분석할 것"이라며  "

유골 DNA와 리자 자녀의 DNA가 일치하는 것으로 확인되면 해당 유골이 모나리자의 것으로 입증된다"고 말했다.

그는 "유골의 신원이 최종 확인되면 두 달여에 걸쳐 발굴된 두개골을 이용해 얼 굴 복원 작업을 벌일 것"이라고 덧붙였다.