LEONARDO DA VINCI'S REMAINS TO BE EXHUMED

THE REMAINS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI ARE TO BE EXHUMED BY A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS WHO PLAN TO RECONSTRUCT HIS FACE TO DISCOVER WHETHER HIS FAMED MASTERPIECE, THE MONA LISA, IS A SELF-PORTRAIT IN DISGUISE. A TEAM OF HISTORIANS AND SCIENTISTS FROM ITALY'S NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE, HAS REQUESTED THAT HIS TOMB AT AMBOISE CASTLE IN THE LOIRE VALLEY BE OPENED. ANTHROPOLOGIST GIORGIO GRUPPIONI, HOPES THE PROJECT WILL THROW NEW LIGHT ON THE RENAISSANCE PAINTER'S MOST CELEBRATED PORTRAIT. 'IF WE MANAGE TO FIND HIS SKULL, WE COULD REBUILD LEONARDO'S FACE AND COMPARE IT WITH THE MONA LISA', HE SAID. DA VINCI WAS ORIGINALLY BURIED IN A CHURCH THAT WAS DESTROYED IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789 AND HIS REMAINS WERE THEN REBURIED IN THE CASTLE'S SMALLER CHAPEL OF SAINT-HUBERT IN 1874. THEY LIE BENEATH AN INSCRIPTION THAT DESCRIBES THEM AS 'PRESUMED' TO BE THE MASTER'S. THE HEAD OF THE ITALIAN TEAM, SILVANO VINCENTI, SAID THE FIRST STEP WOULD BE TO ASCERTAIN IF THE REMAINS ARE THAT OF LEONARDO'S. THE TEAM WILL USE CARBON DATING AND COMPARE DNA SAMPLES FROM THE BONES AND TEETH TO THOSE OF MALE DESCENDANTS IN BOLOGNA, ITALY. DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN FRENCH CULTURAL OFFICIALS AND THE OWNERS OF THE CHATEAU HAVE RESULTED IN AN AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE AND THE PLANS COULD RECEIVE A FORMAL GO-AHEAD THIS SUMMER. MYSTERY HAS SURROUNDED THE IDENTITY OF THE MONA LISA FOR CENTURIES. SCHOLARS HAVE IMPLIED THAT DA VINCI'S PRESUMED HOMOSEXUALITY AND LOVE OF RIDDLES LED HIM TO PAINT HIMSELF AS A WOMAN. SPECULATION ON THE SITTER HAS ALSO RANGED FROM LISA GHERARDINI, THE WIFE OF A FLORENTINE MERCHANT TO LEONARDO'S MOTHER. NICHOLAS TURNER, A FORMER CURATOR OF DRAWINGS AT THE GETTY MUSEUM, SAID: 'IT SOUNDS A BIT FANCIFUL, SLIGHTLY MAD, AS IF THE LEONARDO BUG HAS TAKEN HOLD TO FIRMLY IN THE MINDS OF THESE PEOPLE. IF LEONARDO HEARD ABOUT ALL THIS, HE'S HAVE A GOOD CHUCKLE.' THE PROJECT HAS ALSO AROUSED CONTROVERSY FROM LEONARDO SCHOLARS WHO BELIEVE HIS REMAINS SHOULD BE LEFT ALONE AND THE SELF-PORTRAIT THEORY IS A MYTH.