Lisa Gherardini

Overview

Lisa Gherardini is identified in 667. The Mystery of the Mona Lisa as the sitter for the Mona Lisa. The episode treats her as the ordinary Florentine woman whose portrait later became an extraordinary global icon.

Current Profile

The source presents Lisa as a woman from an old Tuscan family who married Francesco del Giocondo at fifteen when he was thirty. She became his second wife, had six children, raised his son from a previous marriage, and was described in Francesco’s 1537 will as beloved, noble-spirited, and faithful.

Key Characteristics

• Lisa is treated as the most credible sitter for the Mona Lisa.
• Her social world was upwardly mobile Florentine business rather than courtly celebrity.
• Her marriage to Francesco del Giocondo supplies the “La Gioconda” naming context.
• The 1503 Heidelberg evidence strongly supports her connection to Leonardo’s painting.
• Her later fame is radically disproportionate to her documented social role.

Evidence

• Sitter identification - 667. The Mystery of the Mona Lisa cites Giorgio Vasari and the 1503 Agostino Vespucci note mentioning Leonardo and Lisa del Giocondo.
• Family and marriage - 667. The Mystery of the Mona Lisa describes Lisa’s Tuscan family background, young marriage, children, stepchild care, and Francesco’s affectionate will.
• Naming context - 667. The Mystery of the Mona Lisa links Lisa’s married name to La Gioconda and to the Giocondo family.

Qualifications

The source treats Lisa’s sitter identification as strongly supported, but it does not claim full knowledge of her inner life, the commission’s exact terms, or Leonardo’s reason for keeping the painting.

What Changed

• Created Lisa Gherardini as the sitter node for the Mona Lisa branch.

Relationships

• Mona Lisa - portrait for which she is identified as sitter.
• Leonardo da Vinci - painter connected to her by the 1503 note.
• Francesco del Giocondo - husband and likely commission context.
• Giorgio Vasari - early source for the sitter identification.
• Mona Lisa Fame Formation - later fame process that transformed her public meaning.