Italian scientists are going to dig up the bones of Lisa Gherardini, "the rich merchant's wife long held by convention to have been" the woman upon whom Leonardo Da Vinci modeled the Mona Lisa. Maybe we will finally find out whether or not Little Milton loves us once and for all!
A piece in the Journal this weekend wondered why seeing the Mona Lisa in person is such a disappointing experience. (The question has been asked before.) Critic James Gardner suggests one: "Unfortunately, like the dollar bill and the American flag, it has assumed a pall of such impenetrable familiarity that we no longer see it at all."
