Caterina die Meo Lippi
Her lifestory
Who Leonardo Da Vinci’s very young mother was is still disputed to this day. What is undisputed is that she was an orphan. There are currently two theories about her origins. The first theory is that she was a North African slave in the Da Vinci household. The second is that she grew up as an impoverished orphan with her grandmother and was impregnated by the wealthy lawyer Piero da Vinci at the age of 15. The illegitimate child was born in 1452 and grew up in the house of Da Vinci. According to the second theory, Caterina later married Achattabriga di Piero del Vaccha. She had 5 children and died in 1490, aged around 67. Perhaps the Mona Lisa is actually Caterina.
Before the birth
Caterina was still almost a child when she was impregnated by Piero. Piero was probably already engaged to a girl from a rich family. He loved young girls and was a womanizer. However, he was not prepared to take responsibility for his actions. His career was more important to him. Had it not been for his father Antonio, who was prepared to take the boy in – no one knows what would have happened. For religious reasons, which saw abortion as a sin, many women refrained from having an abortion and took their child to a convent or gave it to rich families as slaves.
