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Posted on 09/25/2006 4:27:00 PM PDT by wagglebee
PARIS (Reuters) - Scientists are due to unveil some of the secrets behind Western art's most enigmatic smile this week, when they present the findings of the most extensive three dimensional scan ever undertaken on the Mona Lisa.
Leonardo da Vinci's 16th century masterpiece, perhaps the world's most famous painting, is considered a milestone in the art of portraiture and an icon of European culture.
A comprehensive examination of the work, painted at some time around 1503-06, was undertaken in 2004, using special 3D technology developed by scientists from Canada's National Research Council (NRC).
The scientists scanned the picture on both sides to obtain high resolution 3D image data of the whole painting which the NRC says will shed new light on the history and condition of the work, as well as on Leonardo da Vinci's technique.
The portrait itself will remain in the Louvre museum in Paris, where it has gazed inscrutably out at visitors since it was moved there after the French Revolution.
But the NRC, which will unveil its findings on Tuesday ahead of a public lecture in Ottawa, promises its model will allow both art history specialists and the general public to get closer than ever before without risking damage to the picture.
It will also reveal important details about Leonardo's technique, including the so-called "sfumato" method by which he created a delicate hazy effect which contributes much to the painting's general air of remote mystery.
The young woman with the ambiguous half smile has been identified as Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine merchant named Francesco de Giocondo and her portrait has attracted admiration and curiosity since its creation 500 years ago.
Its popular status as Western art's most famous masterpiece was cemented in 1911 when it was stolen from the Louvre, sparking a massive hunt that saw even Pablo Picasso questioned by police before the painting turned up again two years later.
GGG Ping.
Let me guess..he mocks Christianity somewhere within the work???
I had heard that it was actually DaVinci in drag.
Grits ain't groceries,
Eggs ain't poultry,
And Mona Lisa was a man.
*snicker* I can't help but sing that refrain when I hear about the Mona Lisa.
Let's compare *Mona Lisa's Smile* with *Chris Wallace's Smirk*, shall we?
LOL!
I saw that speculation, I think it was on the Discovery Channel this past year. Very interesting.
Maybe he wrote underneath the painting that he was married to another man and was secretly a Muslim and horrified at the prospect of global warming.
(O.T. I was just scouring the web for a recipe I found a long time ago for butternut squash, as I bought 3 of them today, and then blam - your tagline hit me! Can't wait to try it! :) )
Maybe I'm not much of a judge of art but I've seen the Mona Lisa and I don't like it. Its very small, dark, and hard to see. But in a hall adjacent to the Mona Lisa are 12 beautiful paintings by Peter Paul Reuben which I think are beautiful.
She's a man, baby!
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The secret of the Mona Lisa, and many other paintings by Leonardo for that matter, is the mystical landscape that recedes into the horizon. It gives me goose bumps. Everything else is blah blah blah.
At least Paul Rueben has all of his Pee Wee Herman videos.
It does sound interesting. I just don't like the painting.
Is Tom Hanks involved and has the Vatican issued a press release?
I agree with you. The Mona Lisa does nothing for me. The smile is not mysterious to me. There are so many beautiful, glorious, colorful paintings. The Mona Lisa is drab as a painting and as a woman.
Please. Don't get me started.
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