Mona No, Lisa Yes

Her smile has captivated the art world for centuries. And for centuries there has been endless speculation about who was the woman who posed for Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."

Now a German expert claims to have found evidence that the model was Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo. From the Associated Press:

"Viet Probst, director of the Heidelberg University Library, said the university's handwriting expert had discovered a reference to her identity in a document that belonged to the painting's early owner.

The Mona Lisa was painted between 1503 and 1506 and now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

The painting's alternative title is La Gioconda, further linking it to Francesco del Giocondo and Lisa Gherardini.