The Mona Lisa Mystery

The Mona Lisa Mystery, an art history mystery by Dinah Anastasio. Illustrated by David Cockroft.

《蒙娜丽莎之谜》，戴娜·安娜斯塔西奥创作的艺术史探秘故事。 大卫·考克罗夫特绘制插图。

Between the years 1503 and 1506, the Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci worked on a painting that would become one of the most famous paintings in the world. It is called the Mona Lisa. Until recently, there were few certain facts known about the woman in the painting or about her life. Her real identity had remained unproven. Many people thought that she lived in the town of Florence, Italy, where Leonardo also lived. Others believed that he painted it by copying the parts of several different people. Some people even thought that the artist just imagined her in his mind.

1503到1506年间，意大利艺术家列奥纳多·达·芬奇创作了一幅画，后来它成为了世界最负盛名的画作之一。 它就是《蒙娜丽莎》。 直到不久前，人们对画中女士的身份和生平都知之甚少。 她的真实身份一直没有得到证实。 很多人认为她住在意大利佛罗伦萨，达·芬奇当时也住在这里。 还有人觉得这幅画是达·芬奇照着好几个不同人的五官拼凑出来的。 甚至有人认为这位女士只是艺术家凭空想象出来的。

New evidence supports the long -held belief that she was a real person and her name was Lisa. The evidence also shows that both Lisa's family and her husband, a wealthy silk merchant in Florence, knew Leonardo's father. The small painting has been hanging in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, for over two hundred years. Every day, visitors come to stare at her mysterious smile and her eyes. They try to imagine what she was thinking about as she posed. Artists looked closely to see what special skills Leonardo used to make her hands look so natural. How did he create the shadowy background behind her?

新证据证实了人们长久以来的猜想：她确实真实存在，名字叫丽莎。 证据还显示，丽莎的家人和她的丈夫——佛罗伦萨一位富有的丝绸商人，都认识达·芬奇的父亲。 这幅小巧的画作已经在法国巴黎的卢浮宫展出超过两百年了。 每天都有游客前来，凝视她神秘的微笑和双眼。 人们忍不住猜想，她摆姿势作画的时候在想些什么。 艺术家们仔细研究，想弄清达·芬奇用了什么特别技巧，把她的手画得如此自然生动。 他又是如何画出她身后朦胧的阴影背景呢？

But in 1911, another mystery about the Mona Lisa was created. One day, the painting disappeared and didn't come back for over two years. On August 22, 1911, an artist named Louis came to the Louvre Museum to study and copy the Mona Lisa, as artists and students were allowed to do. It was a Tuesday, which is important because on Monday the museum was closed.

但在1911年，《蒙娜丽莎》又出现了一桩新谜团。 某天这幅画突然失踪，整整两年多都不见踪影。 1911年8月22日，一位名叫路易的艺术家像往常一样到卢浮宫研究、临摹《蒙娜丽莎》，这是艺术家和学生都被允许做的事。 那天是星期二，这点很关键，因为卢浮宫每周一是闭馆的。

Louis entered the room where the Mona Lisa had always hung. But the painting wasn't there. Had someone moved it? He waited for a while. Then he asked a guard to please go and ask about it. When the guard came back, he had very bad news. The Mona Lisa was missing.

路易走进了那间一直挂着《蒙娜丽莎》的展厅。 可那幅画已经不在那儿了。 是有人把它挪走了吗？ 他等了好一会儿。 之后他请保安去问问情况。 保安回来的时候，带来了一个坏消息。 《蒙娜丽莎》不见了。

The police were called. They searched every room. Soon, they had clue number one. The Mona Lisa's wooden frame was found near the stairs. The police questioned every person who worked at the museum. They felt sure that the theft had occurred on Monday, when the museum was closed. They guessed that the thief had been a museum laborer, or had he just dressed as one, so no one would notice him.

警方接到报案赶来了。 他们搜遍了博物馆的每一个房间。 很快，他们找到了第一条线索。 人们在楼梯边找到了《蒙娜丽莎》的木质画框。 警方盘问了所有在博物馆工作的人。 他们确定盗窃案就发生在闭馆的周一。 他们猜测窃贼要么是博物馆的工人，要么是故意打扮成工人，这样就没人会注意到他。