万花筒2008-01-16:蒙娜丽莎之谜破解？

German academics claimed that they've solved the mystery behind the identity of Mona Lisa

For centuries, her smile is fascinated and intrigued¹. And the real identity of the "Mona Lisa" --a Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, has also been a mystery. As art historians have wondered whether she could have even been the artist's mother, or his lover.

But German academics at the University of Heidelberg say they have cracked the code, Armin Schlechter, a manuscript expert, discovered some notes scribbled² in the margin³ of this book that once belonged to an acquaintance of da Vinci. These notes were made in an edition of letters by Cicero in October 1503, and say the artist was working on three paintings at the time, including a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.

"This is the earliest mention of the fact that Leonardo da Vinci painted a picture which portrays⁴ a certain woman called Lisa del Giocondo. People have guessed that he was working on this picture in 1503."

The suggestion that Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy merchant from Florence, could be the smiling woman is nothing new. The painting, which hangs in the Louvre in Paris, is also known as "La Gioconda" which refers to her name but also means happy, or smiling, woman in Italian. Art experts, who have already dated the painting to the start of the sixteenth century, have described the Heidelberg discovery as a breakthrough. Schlechter actually found the notes two years ago and although they were printed in Heidelberg library's public catalogue, they hadn't received much attention until recently. But while the Mona Lisa's identity may have been solved, the mystery behind that smile is unlikely to be cracked any time soon.

Joanna Partridge, Reuters.

1 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

2 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》