Italia__-_November_2016

Knowing that the subjects of portraits always have

links with their backgrounds, the pair were initially

stumped, as Lisa Gherardini, the Florentine merchant’s

wife who has long been considered to have been the

Mona Lisa, had nothing to do with this lovely corner of

the country. “One day, though, I read an article about

a new book called Mona Lisa addio, in which historian

Roberto Zapperi demonstrates that the lady in question

was in fact Pacifica Brandani, a courtesan from Urbino,”

beams Rosetta. “Her story is so fascinating it would

make a wonderful film – and it certainly spurred us on

with our research.”

THE COMPRESSION TECHNIQUE

They met with endless obstacles along the way, partly

due to local scepticism but also to the supremely complex

nature of Leonardo da Vinci. History proves that he knew

this area well, and Olivia and Rosetta tracked down

several detailed sketches in his notebooks at the British

Library, but it took four years of painstaking research, and

many hours of exhausting exploration and sophisticated

technology, including drones, for them to be able to

analyse the landscape thoroughly and to demonstrate

clearly in their own book, Codice P, that the background

actually includes the entire Montefeltro dukedom.

The secret is that Leonardo used the ‘compression

technique’, making certain features taller and narrower in

order to fit such a vast terrain into his painting. Knowing

this, and thanks to ultra-high definition images and

software which enabled them to compress digital images

of the landscape today in the same way, the women are

now in no doubt as to precisely what Da Vinci painted.

LANDSCAPE COMPARISONS

Olivia Nesci’s

expertise as a

geomorphologist

helped researchers

trace the natural

changes in the

landscape over the

500 years since the

works were painted,

by explaining

the differences

between the

now-and-then

landscapes.

“Thankfully the

area hasn’t been

built up, but one

major difference

is how much water

there used to be,”

she points out.

“The rivers were

much wider and the

lakes which feature

in the paintings did

actually exist.”

The medieval village

of San Leo

Guided tours are conducted by the artist

himself – or at least an actor dressed as him

November 2016 ITALIA! 65

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