Silvano Vinceti, head of the National Committee for Cultural Heritage, believes that the Mona Lisa bears several striking similarities to Gian Giocomo Caprotti, known as Salai. He also examined ...

An expert believes there are similarities in Mona Lisa's mysterious smirk to other paintings Leonardo da Vinci did of his lover Gian Giacomo Caprotti, who was nicknamed Salai, or the Little Devil.

He argues the work of art is based on da Vinci’s assistant, Salai, whose real name was Gian Giacomo Caprotti. He worked for the legendary artist for nearly 25 years and was a close friend.

World History Archive/The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Gian Giacomo Caprotti, aka ‘Salai’ (left) and Francesco Melzi (right) were both assistants to Leonardo da Vinci (Credit: World History ...

Caprotti, who was also known as Salai, worked as an apprentice with the artist for more than two decades from 1490 and they were rumoured to have been lovers. Some experts had already suggested ...

A painting of Mary Magdalene recently attributed to Leonardo da Vinci's collaborator and lover Gian Giacomo Caprotti, known as Salaì, sold at the Paris auction house Artcurial yesterday for €1 ...

Milan is also where he met Gian Giacomo Caprotti, more commonly known as Salaì, the young male assistant and pupil who many historians believe also became his longest-term lover. This week ...

Many historians have averred that da Vinci was romantically involved with his long-term apprentice, Giacomo Caprotti, nicknamed “Salaì” (“little devil”). Salai lived with da Vinci for ...

On Wednesday, Paris-based auction house Artcurial held its Old Masters and 19th Century Art sale led by auctioneer Matthieu Fournier, bringing in a total of €5.7 million ($6.8 million), 46 percent ...