Florence, 5 March – More than 150,000 signatures have been collected requesting the Lourve Museum in Paris return Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to Florence. The painting is generally acknowledged to be the most famous work of art in the world. It is believed that the painting is of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo: a rich Florentine merchant.
The campaign is being backed by Italy’s National Committee for Historical, Cultural and Environmental Heritage which has requested a meeting with the French Minister of Culture, Aurelia Filippetti.
The committees’ president, Silvano Vincenti said, “I am convinced that, thanks to the ministers origins, she will not only respond positively to our request she will understand its motives”. Mr Vincenti said the return of the painting would be of “High historical value, both symbolic and moral”.
If returned the painting would hang with the other famous paintings of the Renaissance in the Uffizi gallery, which we visit with our groups on several of our Vita Italian Tours.
