Italian historian Silvano Vinceti claims that the bridge depicted in Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa portrait is that of Romito di Laterina, in the province of Arezzo. The enigmatic bridge is visible to the right of the canvas, behind the Mona Lisa, and its identity has been hotly debated for centuries.
«The bridge represented by Leonardo is in our opinion the Romito or Ponte di Valle bridge, of Etruscan-Roman origin. Currently only one arch of the bridge remains, but in the period between 1501 and 1503 it was in operation and was very busy,” Vinceti told a news conference on Wednesday.
According to Vinceti, at that time the bridge functioned as a shortcut that allowed the journey between the cities to which Da Vinci frequently traveled to be shortened by several kilometers. In that period, the viaduct, located in the Arno valley, had four arches and rested on two cliffs crossed by the winding course of the Arno river, as depicted in the Mona Lisa painting.
The historian also states that in the lower left part of the painting there are other geographical accidents that could have inspired the Renaissance painter and that he would have captured from his stay in that region. Vinceti, who is president of the National Committee for the Valorization of Historical, Cultural and Environmental Assets, argued his hypothesis based on new historical documents, images taken with a drone and the use of virtual reconstruction techniques of the viaduct structures. .
controversial locations
The most likely candidates to have inspired Da Vinci have long been considered to be the medieval bridge of Bobbio, in the province of Piacenza, and that of Buriano, in the province of Arezzo. “Our hypothesis seems more plausible and documented than others. The Bobbio bridge, on the other hand, has more than six arches, and the Buriano bridge has six. In addition, they are built on a flat terrain, “says Vinceti.
According to The Guardian, Vinceti’s theory caused a lot of excitement in the town of Laterina, which has a population of around 3,500. “We must try to protect what remains of the bridge, and that will require funding,” said the mayor, Simona Neri. In turn, the Buriano authorities must remove a poster that up to now warns that his bridge is the one represented in the famous painting. «There will be some rivalry; we will also have to put up a sign,” Neri joked.
