Fresh proof has been found to support the theory that Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, seen here at the Louvre, was the wife of a Florence merchant, the head of the library of Germany's Heidelberg University said on Tuesday.

    Germany's University of Heidelberg says a researcher has uncovered evidence that apparently confirms the identity of the woman behind the Mona Lisa's famous smile.

    She is Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo, according to notes written in the margins of a 1503 book by a friend of Leonardo da Vinci as the artist worked on the masterpiece, the school said in a statement.

    The discovery by a Heidelberg University library manuscript expert appears to confirm what has long been suspected.

    Del Giocondo was first named as the likeness in the painting by Italian writer Giorgio Vasari in 1550, who also dated the work at between 1503 and 1506, the university said.

    But because Vasari relied on anecdotal evidence, there was always doubts about the identification, and Leonardo is not known to have made any notes about the model's identity himself.

    "One possibility discussed is the presentation of a fictitious likeness of a woman; Leonardo's female ideal," the school said.

    But the finding by Heidelberg library expert Armin Schlechter settles the matter, according to the university.

    In a copy of the works of Roman philosopher Cicero, Agostino Vespucci, a Florentine official and friend of Leonardo's, wrote in the margins that da Vinci was working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. He dated his notes October 1503, also helping pin down the exact time Leonardo was working on the painting.

    "All doubts as to the identity of the Mona Lisa are eliminated （by） one source," the university said.

    The discovery was actually made in 2005, but was not widely known until a German radio station last week aired it in a report.

    傳世畫作《蒙娜麗莎》中那個帶著神秘微笑的女子究竟是誰？德國海德堡大學近日稱，一名研究人員發現了足以證實“蒙娜麗莎”身份的確鑿證據。

    德國海德堡大學在一份聲明中說，研究人員在一本1503年的書中發現了達·芬奇的一個朋友的筆記。根據該筆記可以斷定，畫中的女子是佛羅倫薩商人弗朗西斯科·德爾·喬貢德的妻子麗莎·德爾·喬貢德。當時達·芬奇正在創作《蒙娜麗莎》這幅畫。

    海德堡大學一位圖書館筆跡專家發現的這一證據似乎可以證實人們長期以來的猜測。

    據海德堡大學介紹，意大利作家喬治亞·瓦薩尼曾于1550年得出類似結論，同時他也認為《蒙娜麗莎》創作于1503年至1506年間。

    但由于瓦薩尼的結論缺乏確鑿的證據，這個說法一直受到懷疑。而達·芬奇本人也未對畫中女子的真實身份進行過任何確認。

    海德堡大學稱：“有人猜測畫中女子并沒有現實原型，只是達·芬奇心目中的理想女性形象而已。”

    而海德堡大學圖書館專家阿邁恩·施勒希特的這一發現解開了所有謎團。

    這本書是古羅馬哲學家西塞羅的一本著作。根據達·芬奇的朋友、佛羅倫薩官員阿戈斯蒂諾·韋斯普奇在書中空白處的留言，當時達芬奇正在創作麗莎·喬貢德的一幅畫像。留言所注的日期為1503年10月，由此可以確定達·芬奇創作這幅畫的具體時間。

    海德堡大學稱：“這個發現解開了所有有關蒙娜麗莎身份的謎團。”

    其實這個證據在2005年就被發現了，但直到上周一家德國廣播電臺上星期公布這個發現后，更多的人才了解真相。