Leonardo da Vinci's mother a slave – research

FLORENCE, Italy: Leonardo da Vinci, the painter of the "Mona Lisa" and a symbol of the Renaissance, was only half-Italian, as his mother was a slave from the Caucasus, new research revealed on Tuesday.

Da Vinci's mother had long been thought a Tuscan peasant, but University of Naples professor Carlo Vecce, a specialist in the Old Master, believes the truth is more complicated.