It is the Romito di Laterina bridge in the province of Arezzo that Leonardo painted in the landscape of the Mona Lisa.
A research coordinated by the historian Silvano Vinceti
, author of other important discoveries on the most famous portrait in the world in the past, seems to leave little doubt about a mystery that has fueled countless disputes over the years.
Among the theses supported, those that have caused the most clamor refer to the medieval bridge of Bobbio, in the province of Piacenza, and to the bridge in Buriano in the province of Arezzo.
But now this latest research - conducted thanks also to the collaboration of the cultural association La Rocca and
based on new historical documents and comparisons between current photographs and what is depicted in the painting
- has made it possible to identify the real Gioconda bridge.
“It is the Etruscan-Roman bridge Romito or Ponte di Valle - explains Vinceti - located in the municipality of Laterina in the province of Arezzo.
Currently only one arch remains of the bridge, but
in the period between 1501 and 1503 the bridge was in operation and very busy, as attested by a document on the state of the artifacts in the Medici family properties, found in the State archives of Florence
”.
And it was precisely at that time that Leonardo was in the Val d'Arno, first in the service of Cesare Borgia, known as il Valentino, and then of the gonfaloniere of the Republic of Florence, Pier Soderini.
The Romito bridge had four arches, rested on two cliffs, was part of a byway or shortcut that made it possible to shorten the journey between Arezzo, Fiesole and Florence by several kilometers.
The Bobbio bridge, on the other hand, has more than six arches, and the one in Buriano has six.
Furthermore these artifacts are placed on a flat ground.
"
There are various correspondences
between the Romito bridge - underlines Vinceti - the particular morphologies of the Arno in that stretch of territory and what Leonardo reported in the landscape to the left of the noblewoman depicted in the famous painting. These correspondences emerged thanks to the images taken from a drone which allowed us to highlight the presence of two cliffs on the left and right side of the Romito bridge and the sinuous course of the Arno, as depicted in the painting of the Gioconda”.
And
the virtual reconstruction of the bridge, created on the basis of the width of the Arno in the stretch where the Romito bridge is located, highlights a strong similarity with the bridge in the portrait
.
The same can be said for the shape and size of the four arches.
“Significant - adds Vinceti, who is also president of the national committee for the valorisation of historical, cultural and environmental assets - are also the historical documents which certify how Leonardo often resided in Fiesole at that time, with a priest uncle named Amadori or Amadoro .
The analysis of the images taken with the drone and of the historical documents has allowed us to identify, with a high level of probability, the landscape painted in the lower left part of the Mona Lisa.
Namely the
complex of cliffs or earth pyramids in the upper Val d'Arno area from which Leonardo was inspired
.
And in this regard, some drawings of flounces present in the Hammer Code (or Leicester Code), Leonardo's famous manuscript dating from between 1506 and 1510, are of fundamental importance".