Archaeologists are carrying out testing on three bodies exhumed in Florence in 2011, one of which may be one of history's most mysterious women - the Mona Lisa.
 The Mona Lisa is the world's most famous painting |
Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the early 16th century, she has been the subject of fevered debate ever since. Some have even claimed that da Vinci himself is the subject of the piece.
Evidence suggests she may have been Lisa Gherardini, a member of a wealthy Florentine family, whose husband commissioned the work.
Silvano Vinceti, of Italy's National Committee of Historic, Cultural and Environmental Heritage , explained to the Daily Express: "If the carbon-14 test results confirm that the three human remains date back to the 16th century and that one of three is likely to have died during a period coinciding with Gherardini's demise, then it will be possible to confirm with a very high probability that we have found the Gioconda."
Vinceti plans to carry out a facial reconstruction to lay the question to rest once and for all.
The Mona Lisa is the world's most famous painting, but is unlikely ever to be offered for sale.
If it did ever enter the market, its value has been calculated at up to $2.4bn , over 1,500% more than the $142.4m paid for the current world record holder - Francis Bacon's Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud.
