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I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    Hopes dashed in the hunt for the bones of the Mona Lisa - but team vows to keep on hunting for the woman with the ‘enigmatic smile’ Archaeologists who are digging for the remains of the real-life Mona Lisa have found a female skeleton - but sadly they do not believe these are bones of Leonardo da Vinci’s muse. Researcher Silvano Vinceti, leading the digs under a former convent in central Florence, believes the body he has found is that of a woman who lived decades after Lisa Gherardini, the woman many experts believe sat for da Vinci’s iconic painting. So far the team - who have been criticised in some corners for their methodology - have discovered four remains under the convent. Full story here.

    Hopes dashed in the hunt for the bones of the Mona Lisa - but team vows to keep on hunting for the woman with the ‘enigmatic smile’

    Archaeologists who are digging for the remains of the real-life Mona Lisa have found a female skeleton - but sadly they do not believe these are bones of Leonardo da Vinci’s muse.

    Researcher Silvano Vinceti, leading the digs under a former convent in central Florence, believes the body he has found is that of a woman who lived decades after Lisa Gherardini, the woman many experts believe sat for da Vinci’s iconic painting.

    So far the team - who have been criticised in some corners for their methodology - have discovered four remains under the convent.

    Full story here.

    Skeleton find in Italy could unlock mysteries of the Mona Lisa

    archaeologicalnews:

    London, July 18 (ANI): Archeologists have found a skeleton buried beneath the floor of a convent in Florence, Italy, and they believe it belonged to the model who posed for Leonardo’s da Vinci’s mysterious masterpiece - the Mona Lisa.

    The medieval Convent of Saint Ursula in Florence was the…

    Archaeological News: Update: Is this the skull of the Mona Lisa? Bones found at site of alleged model's burial

    archaeologicalnews:

    The secret behind the famously enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa, the world’s most famous painting, could soon be solved.

    Archaeologists on a dig in Italy claim to have discovered the skull of the woman who posed for Leonardo’s da Vinci’s masterpiece.

    The excavation team revealed over the…

    Mona Lisa Descendant Criticizes Hunt for Grave

    A descendant of the Italian noblewoman thought to have inspired the Mona Lisa insisted her remains should be left in peace Wednesday as archaeologists began searching for her tomb.

    Experts began examining the site of a former convent in Florence, where they hope to find the body of Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, the wife of a rich Italian silk merchant and the woman who many historians believe was the model for Leonardo da Vinci’s world-famous painting.

    A team led by Italian art historian Silvano Vinceti are using a ground-penetrating “georadar” device to search for Giocondo’s tomb, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.

    If they find enough of her remains, Vinceti is hopeful of reconstructing part of her face so it can be compared to the Mona Lisa to determine whether she really was the inspiration for the portrait, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

    The search centers on the crumbling three-story Saint Orsola church building that dates back to 1309 that once housed the convent where it is believed Giocondo died in 1542 at age 63. The building in central Italy became a tobacco factory in the 19th century and more recently a barracks to house refugees.

    But not everyone shares Vinceti’s enthusiasm.

    Natalia Guicciardini Strozzi, a member of one of Florence’s oldest noble families — and a direct descendant of Giocondo — has attacked the latest bid to unearth the secrets of the Mona Lisa and its enigmatic smile, ANSA said.

    “It seems to me an act of sacrilege and not very appropriate,” said Strozzi, an actress and winemaker. ” Let my ancestor rest in peace.”

    Source: Ansa.it

    (Source: caraobrien, via )