★ Silvano Vinceti, chairman of the Italian national committee for cultural heritage, said the Florence-born Renaissance artist's male apprentice and possible lover Salai was the main inspiration for the Mona Lisa.
★ Salai, real name Gian Giacomo Caprotti, an effeminate young artist who worked with da Vinci for 25 years, is thought to have served as a model and muse for several of his paintings.
★ The pair had an "ambiguous" relationship and were probably lovers, Vinceti said.What is more, Vinceti said da Vinci had left clues to the model's identity in tiny letters L and S which he and his team found painted into the eyes of the Mona Lisa.
★ "Close examination of a high-quality digital copy of the portrait had revealed an L for Leonardo and an S for Salai," he said.
Reference :: /news.discovery.com
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