Is Mona Lisa inscrutably Chinese? (VIDEO)

BEIJING;

An Italian histaorian 's theory that Mona Lisa
might be a Chinese slave and Leonardo da
Vinci's mother --making the 15 th century
polymath half -Chinese sent online commentors
into a frenzy Wednesday.

Anglo Paratico ,a Hong Kong -based historian
and novelist from Italy,told the south China
Morning post ,On the back of Mona Lisa,there
is Chinese landscape and even her face looks
Chinese.

Chinese web users expressed  astonishment and
disbelief Wednesday ,posting dozen of parodies
of the painting ,with faces from Chinese comedians
to British actor Rowan Atkison grafted over her
delicate features

Little is known about Caterina ,the mother of the
artist ,writer ,mathematician and inventor ,and
the identity of the sitter for the portrait hanging
in Paris  ' Louvre museum has long been a matter
of debate ,Paratico ,who is finishing a book entitle
 Leanardo de Vinci ;a Chinese scholar  lost in
Renaissance Italy ,cited Austrian neurologist Sigmund
Freud's1910 assumption that the painting was
inspired by the artist's mother,

"One wealthy client of  Leanardo's father had
a save  called Caterina ,After 1452 Leanardo
's date of birth ,she disappeared from the documents'
he told the paper.The evidence for a Chinese
connection appears to be slight ,with Paratico
saying he was sure "up toa point"that de Vanci's
mother was from the Orient.
To make her an oriental from Chinese,we need
to use a deductive method "he added.
AFP