An expert has claimed to have unravelled the mystery behind the world-famous Mona Lisa painting - saying the model was a man and Leonardo da Vinci's lover.

一位专家宣称自己揭开了世界名画《蒙娜丽莎的微笑》之后的秘密——画中人的原型，不但是个男模，还是达芬奇的情人。

Artist da Vinci has proved an endless talking point for conspiracy theorists looking for hidden meanings in his works.

艺术家达芬奇绝对是制造了足够多的谜，留得后世多多少少阴谋论者从他的画作中寻找所谓深藏的秘密。

The Mona Lisa's real identity remains shrouded in mystery with a silk merchant's wife, Lisa Gheradini, being seen as the most likely model for the painting.

蒙娜丽莎的真实身份，早前都是说是某位丝绸商人的妻子，但却始终留有疑点。

That was until Silvano Vincetti, chairman of the Italian national committee for cultural heritage, made his startling revelation.

直到意大利文化遗产国家委员会主席Silvano Vincetti宣布了他惊世骇俗的大发现。



He said the identity of one of the world's most iconic paintings was a young man called Gian Giacomo Caprotti, also known as Salai.

他说这幅世界名画的原型是一位年轻男子，名叫Gian Giacomo Caprotti，又名Salai。

Salai and da Vinci worked together for 25 years and is believed to be the inspiration behind several of the Renaissance artist's works.

Salai和达芬奇共事25年，据称为达芬奇不少文艺复兴画作带来了灵感的来源。

Mr Vincetti said the artist and his effeminate apprentice had an "ambiguous" relationship.

Vincetti还补充说，达芬奇与这位长相清秀的男学徒之间，有着暧昧的关系。

The expert drew on several of da Vinci's works, including St John the Baptist and the Angel Incarnate, to highlight the similarities of the nose and mouth to that of the Mona Lisa.

这位专家还列举了一系列达芬奇的作品，指出这些画作中的人物鼻子和嘴巴都与蒙娜丽莎有相似之处。



Mr Vincetti also backed up his claims with forensic evidence.

Vincetti先生不是一个人在战斗，他的身后有法医学证据。

He said: "Close examination of a high-quality digital copy of the portrait had revealed an L for Leonardo and an S for Salai."

他说：“通过超近距离检测一份原作高清电子档，发现画作上留有字母L表示莱昂纳多·达·芬奇，以及S表示Salai”。

The findings have been refuted by French art historians at the Louvre museum in Paris, where the Mona Lisa is one of the centre's star attractions.

可这个所谓发现让远在法国罗浮宫的法国艺术历史学家情何以堪。

Experts at the Louvre say they checked the painting two times in 2004 and 2009 saying: "No inscriptions, letters or numbers, were discovered during the tests.

罗浮宫的专家说他们04年和09年两度检查原画：“注解、字母、数字神马的都没有发现”。



"The ageing of the painting on wood has caused a great number of cracks to appear in the paint, which have caused a number of shapes to appear that have often been subject to over-interpretation."

“随着时间的推移，木质画作上的油彩很大程度上受到了损伤，浮现出一系列图案形状，引得外人过于深入地去诠释画作背后的深意。”

Mr Vincetti, who has never had access to the painting, countered that the experts in Paris were "really blind".

意大利的那位专家Vincetti先生其实从未亲眼目睹这幅世界名画的真身，却指责巴黎的专家“肉眼凡胎两眼一抹黑”。

But he offered to come to the museum with his team to date test the paint of the letters to the rest of the canvas.

他却建议说带领他的团队远赴罗浮宫去检测原画中隐藏的讯息。（小编：其实这才是你的真正目的吧？）

His invitation has so far not been accepted, so for now the Mona Lisa will no doubt continue to smile enigmatically.

他的邀约尚未被接受，蒙娜丽莎就继续保持她或者他神秘的微笑吧。