New research reveals Leonardo da Vinci's mother was a Caucasian slave.

New research claims that Leonardo da Vinci's mother was a slave from the Caucasus, making the painter of the "Mona Lisa" just half-Italian. The evidence was unveiled by Carlo Vecce, a scholar of Leonardo's life and work, who found an act of liberation of a slave called Caterina by her mistress, Monna Ginevra, who was the wife of a "Florentine adventurer" who owned slaves from the Black Sea region. The findings are the basis of a new historical novel by Vecce called "Il Sorriso di Caterina," (Caterina's smile).