Archeologists may have found model for Mona Lisa

Archeologists on Tuesday unearthed a skeleton in a rare state of preservation in Florence in what they believe may be a crucial step towards unraveling the mystery of the identity of the woman with the most enigmatic smile in the world.

Several bodies have been discovered in the hunt to find the remains of Lisa Gherardini, the Florentine noblewoman widely believed to have served as the muse for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Silvano Vinceti, who heads up the team of Italian archeologists, said this discovery in an abandoned convent was particularly exciting - though tests would still have to be carried out to ascertain the identity of the remains.