Researchers in Italy are focusing their search for the remains of the woman who is believed to be Leonardo da Vinci's model for his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, in the hope of finally unraveling the mystery that puzzled art historians and the world since the 16th century.

A team of art researchers have descendent on an old Florence convent to dig the remains of a woman who may have been da Vinci's model when he painted Mona Lisa five centuries ago that has captivated the world since.

According to some Italian historians, the true Mona Lisa was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich Florentine silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo who is believed to have commissioned da Vinci to create the portrait. Although this claim has never been proven.

But with modern technology, the researchers say they can recreate the face of the woman if they can find her skull and compare its likeliness with the painting.

Silvano Vinceti, head of the National Committee for the Promotion of Historic and Cultural Heritage said, "We have a document confirming the burial of Gherardini in 1542 here in the convent."

Gherardini was thought to have spent her remaining years at the convent to look over her two daughters who were serving as nuns at the convent. Her two daughters were also buried there.

Professor Francesco Mallegni, a paleoanthropologist added, "To be sure we have to find the DNA in her bones, and once we have found that we can compare it with the DNA of her children who are buried at the Santissima Annunziata convent."

Vinceti further claimed to have found hidden symbols in the portrait after devoting months studying the famous painting.

However Vinceti added that while Gherardini might have been an early model for the Mona Lisa, da Vinci may have also used the face of his young male apprentice, Gian Giacomo Caprotti, whom others claim to be the lover of the painter.

Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile have captivated and intrigued art enthusiasts across the globe since the painting was made public.

The Louvre museum in Paris, which owns the painting, the likely date when Mona Lisa was painted was between 1503 and 1506 in Florence and could have been commissioned to commemorate one of two events: either when Gherardini and her husband bought their house or when their second son was born.