On Thursday, September 11 at 7 p.m. award-winning author Dianne Hales will present her latest book,"Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered" at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum.
Every year, 9 million visitors to the Louvre visit a gallery in which one small portrait-the lone painting on an immense wall-sits inside a bulletproof glass case, further protected by the watchful eyes of 24-hour security guards. It is the most famous painting on earth, but in spite of its international fame, the life and times of the portrait's subject have largely remained a mystery-until now.When new findings identified Leonardo da Vinci's model as Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, Dianne Hales was intrigued and set out to reconstruct Lisa's life, taking readers on a journey through Italy, to archives and libraries, piazze and palazzi, abandoned chapels, and fairytale castles. Hales's Italian knighthood (granted for her previous book La Bella Lingua) gave her unfettered access to archives and experts, including Lisa's last living descendants. The result of her extensive research is an intriguing blend of biography, history, and memoir that takes readers beyond Leonardo's masterpiece and introduces us to the woman behind the smile.Videos