The artistic community has long debated where the renowned portrait’s backdrop is set. Geologist and Renaissance specialist Ann Pizzorusso claims to have tied its location to a city in northern Italy.

Ann Pizzorusso believes she has deduced the location of one of the world’s most famous portraits using her geological expertise.

Ann Pizzorusso, a geologist and art historian, says she's identified the location in the background of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting

A geologist claims she has figured out where the “Mona Lisa” was painted. Ann Pizzorusso, a geologist and Italian Renaissance specialist, says her geology background led her to conclude that Leonardo da Vinci painted the “Mona Lisa” in the town of Lecco, Italy, Reuters reports.

An expert in both geology and the Italian Renaissance claims that she knows the exact locale that inspired the background in the Mona Lisa.

Over 500 years after Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, an academic believes she has unravelled the mystery about the backdrop to one of the world's most famous works of art.

For centuries, art historians have debated over the landscape in Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." But the geologist and Italian Renaissance scholar, Ann Pizzorusso, says she knows the location that features in the world's most famous portrait.

While undoubtedly the most recognized painting in the world, the Mona Lisa (1503-1519) is also one of the most puzzling since it was painted centuries ago by Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci. Both the sitter and background remain a point of contention for art historians…until now. Well, allegedly and only the latter part.

By Dalya Alberge The landscape behind Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has sparked endless debate, with some art historians suggesting the view was imaginary and idealised, and others claiming various links to specific Italian locations.

Geologist Pizzorusso's research combines art and science to pinpoint Mona Lisa's location in Lecco, Italy, challenging previous theories with geological findings.

The art historian points to the body of water behind Mona Lisa, identifying it as Lake Como, a subalpine glacial lake formed approximately 10,000 years ago.