Mona Lisa, the masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci has been enthralling art lovers for centuries. It is regarded as a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. Now, a scientist who analyzed each and every inch and the layer of the portrait has discovered hidden details beneath the brushstrokes of the Italian painter.
The painting that is most probably one of the best paintings of da Vinci is currently residing in Louvre, Paris. Around 80 percent of the annual visitors go to see the Mona Lisa. Scientist Pascal Cotte was asked to digitize the painting using a specialist camera that captured the hidden layers beneath the portrait. The scientist found a number of surprising details that can dismiss previous beliefs about the piece of art.
Cotte spent a decade analyzing over 1,650 images that find intricate insights into the Mona Lisa and how the Italian painter created it. The scientist used Layer Amplification Method (LAM) on the images taken by the multispectral camera that was able to detect the light reflected on 13 wavelengths, for capturing the interaction of light and matter.
New Discoveries About Mona Lisa
In the layers, he found a technique called spolvero was used, which had allowed the artist to transfer a sketch to his wooden canvas using the charcoal dust. The markings that suggest the piece of art was not totally freehand, were discovered in other works of da Vinci. Below the Mona Lisa, the spolvero marks were discovered along the hairline and the hand, however, it was not the only thing that was discovered.
To the right of the forehead, he discovered the top of a hairpin, a minute detail that presents more questions bout the piece of art. "This hairpin in the sky just to the right of Mona Lisa's head cannot belong to a portrait of a person because in the city of Florence this was not the fashion at the time. "People had to be dressed in certain ways to denote their profession and for nobility respecting the colors," Cotte told Express.co.uk. "It is not possible for Mona Lisa to have hair like this, it was impossible of the time in the city of Florence," he added.
The scientist stated that the type of hairpin is more typically used for 'an unreal woman like a Goddess' as a symbol for goodness or justice. The reason behind the hairpin will stay a mystery but there are speculations that it might have been a part of another project entirely.
The scientist suspects that two previous works might have preceded the final Mona Lia. The spolvero marks along the forehead reveal that the painter changed the position of the head of the woman and the head. "He changed the position of the head to make her look right at you, like a mother and everybody has a mother so can share and feel emotion while looking at the portrait," the scientist said.
Using the spolvero technique is a rapid way of making a portrait. The scientist believes the discoveries will probably change the way people look at the painting. He said that the findings increase the mystery of the creation. The scientist claims to have made 150 discoveries about the painting.
