Author, Leonardo's knots

Caroline Cocciardi  writer and filmmaker began an independent study on Leonardo da Vinci, while living in Rome. Her 20 year research lead to a da Vinci discovery. 

Overlooked for centuries yet visible to the naked eye Cocciardi detected that the minute interlocking embroidered knot pattern on Mona Lisa’s dress deviated from the decorative embroidery of the day.  The Mona Lisa Knot was a mathematical pattern based on its angular crossing patterns.

In the process of looking in Leonardo’s codices for his preliminary sketches of The Mona Lisa Knot, she discovered he had dedicated a lifetime to his knot art works. Her newly released art book, “Leonardo’s Knots” will introduce you to a facet of the Renaissance painter that was overlooked for centuries yet was present in his artworks: his passion for intertwining knots. She has lectured for many institutions and museums about Leonardo da Vinci’s knot art.

In 2009, Cocciardi’s documentary, “Mona Lisa Revealed” was featured at the Carmel Film Festival documenting engineer Pascal Cotte, inventor of the multi-spectral camera that uncovered five centuries of secrets within Leonardo’s iconic Mona Lisa. Cocciardi represented Cotte’s Mona Lisa photographs in a worldwide Leonardo exhibition.