US-based geologist and UK art history expert Ann Pizzorusso has allegedly cracked one of the longest-standing mysteries in art history: the location where Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" painting is set.
Ann Pizzorusso's 'Breakthrough' on 'Mona Lisa'
Pizzorusso, who is a self-professed "oil drilling and gem hunting" professional, said that the unclear landscape behind the famous and equally enigmatic sitter is actually an iteration of the northern Italian city of Lecco.
The expert announced her findings at a recent geology conference held in Lecco, saying that she zeroed in on the southwestern Alps visible from the city as a key "piece" in the whole art mystery "puzzle."
As per The Guardian, Pizzorusso matched the elements of the "Mona Lisa" background to the city's 14th-century Azzone Visconti bridge, the Alps surrounding the area, and Lake Garlate, which the Italian polymath was recorded to have visited five centuries ago.
The geologist backed up her claims by retracing Leonardo's footsteps across the northern part of Italy by using his field notes as a cross-reference.
This is not the first time the art historian has researched the potential geological counterparts of Lenoardo's depictions, as she has presented prior findings of such in her 2021 book: "Geologic Representations in the Virgin and Child with St. Anne."
In addition to this, she also published information in the 2017 academic paper: "Leonardo's Geology: The Authenticity of the Virgin of the Rock."
Pushback from Other Art History Experts
However, some of Pizzorusso's contemporaries diverge from her claims, one of whom being fellow UK art historian Martin Kemp.
Kemp told CBS that Leonardo wasn't necessarily depicting "specific, identifiable landscapes," saying, "He's looking at real things with incredible intensity, but he then remakes them in painting."
"Why he should put a landscape of Albinor or a landscape of Arezzo or a landscape of wherever is completely unclear," he continued.
University of Virginia art history professor Francesca Fiorani concurred with Kemp, telling The Art Newspaper that: although Leonardo spent a tremendous amount of time studying varying elements of landscapes, most of what he depicts in his paintings are just "his personal imaginary rendition of nature."
"To claim otherwise means not understanding how Leonardo's mind worked and how he painted," she added.
