Da Vinci's Lisa revealed
http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/01/16/da_vincis_lisa_revealed/

Mona Lisa descendant just grins and bears it
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/294443

A closer look at the Mona Lisa [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.louvre.fr/llv/dossiers/detail_oal.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673229908&CURRENT_LLV_OAL%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673229908&bmLocale=en

Mona: Exploratorium Exhibit [Quick Time]
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/mona/mona.html

Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draftsman [Real Player]
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Leonardo_Master_Draftsman/draftsman_splash.htm

Theft of Mona Lisa
http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/a_nav/mona_nav/main_monafrm.html

At the center of what is arguably the world's most famous painting is a woman who has been the source of much controversy over the past five hundred years. The identity of Mona Lisa has been the source of some consternation, as generations of scholars have searched for incontrovertible proof of her identity. Recently, a researcher at the University of Heidelberg found the necessary evidence in the margins of a book written by a friend of Leonard da Vinci. The painting is called La Gioconda in Italian, which led early observers to comment that it was most likely a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo. This most recent discovery effectively ended all potential doubts about the identification, as the researcher in Germany found notes from da Vinci's friend that noted the artist was working on her portrait. [KMG]

The first link will take users to an article from this Wednesday's Boston Globe about this recent discovery. The second link will whisk users away to a piece in the Toronto Star about some of Mona Lisa's distant relatives. Moving on, the third link leads to a fascinating online exploration into the painting offered up by the Louvre Museum. The fourth link leads to a presentation of "alternate" versions of the Mona Lisa from the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The genius of da Vinci's drafting abilities is the subject of the fifth link, which allows visitors to look at some of his work from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and listen to audio commentaries by scholars and curators. The final link leads to a site from PBS that explores the theft of the Mona Lisa on August 21st, 1911. [KMG]