Lisa Gherardini
| Lisa del Giocondo | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
Lisa Gherardini 15 June 1479 Via Maggio, Florence, Italy |
| Died | 15 July 1542 (aged 63) Convent of Saint Orsola, Florence, Italy |
| Known for | Subject of Mona Lisa |
| Spouse(s) | Francesco del Giocondo |
| Children | Piero del Giocondo Suor Beatrice (Camilla del Giocondo) Andrea del Giocondo Giocondo del Giocondo Suor Ludovica (Marietta del Giocondo) Also raised: Bartolomeo del Giocondo |
| Parent(s) | Antonmaria di Noldo Gherardini Lucrezia del Caccia |
Lisa del Giocondo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈliːza del dʒoˈkondo]; née Gherardini [ɡerarˈdiːni]; June 15, 1479 – July 15, 1542), also known as Lisa Gherardini, Lisa di Antonio Maria (or Antonmaria) Gherardini and Mona Lisa, was a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany in Italy. Her name was given to Mona Lisa, her portrait commissioned by her husband and painted by Leonardo da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance.
Little is known about Lisa's life. Born in Florence and married in her teens to a cloth and silk merchant who later became a local official, she was a mother to five children and led what is thought to have been a comfortable and ordinary middle-class life. Lisa outlived her husband, who was considerably her senior.
Centuries after Lisa's death, Mona Lisa became the world's most famous painting and took on a life separate from Lisa, the woman. Speculation by scholars and hobbyists made the work of art a globally recognized icon and an object of commercialization. In 2005, Lisa was definitively identified as the model for the Mona Lisa.
Lisa's Florentine family was old and aristocratic but over time had lost their influence. They were well off but not wealthy, and lived on farm income in a city that was among the largest in Europe. While economically successful, there were great disparities in wealth among its inhabitants.
Antonmaria di Noldo Gherardini, Lisa's father, had lost two wives, Lisa di Giovanni Filippo de' Carducci, whom he married in 1465, and Caterina di Mariotto Rucellai, whom he married in 1473. Both died in childbirth. Lisa's mother was Lucrezia del Caccia, daughter of Piera Spinelli, and Gherardini's wife by his third marriage in 1476. Gherardini at one time owned or rented six farms in Chianti that produced wheat, wine and olive oil and where livestock was raised.
...
Wikipedia