This one? I agree.
Imagine a world without this... or the Venus de Milo... or Stephan Lochner's "The Virgin in the Rose Garden"....
Posted on 09/27/2006 11:37:35 AM PDT by presidio9
Researchers using three-dimensional technology to study the "Mona Lisa" say the woman depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's 16th century masterpiece was either pregnant or had recently given birth when she sat for the painting.
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That was one of many discoveries found by French and Canadian researchers during one of the most extensive physical examinations ever carried out on the artwork.
"Thanks to laser scanning, we were able to uncover the very fine gauze veil Mona Lisa was wearing on her dress. This was something typical for either soon-to-be or new mothers at the time," Michel Menu, research director of the French Museums' Center for Research and Restoration, said Wednesday on LCI television.
Menu said a number of art historians had suggested that she was pregnant or had just given birth.
Researchers have established that the picture was of Lisa Gherardini, wife of obscure Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocond, and that Leonardo started painting it in 1503.
The name "Mona Lisa" is the equivalent of "Madame Lisa." La Joconde, as the painting is referred to in many countries, is the French version of her married name.
The scan revealed depth resolution so detailed it was possible to see differences in the height around the paint surface cracks and in the thickness of the varnish.
"We now have very precise information about the thickness of the layers," Bruno Mottin, of the French restoration center, told reporters in Ottawa, Canada. "We know how the painting is painted, with very thin layers of painting. That's one of the things we couldn't see by the naked eye, and that Canadian technology brought us."
John Taylor of Canada's National Research Council said there were no signs of any brush stroke. "That includes the very fine details of the embroidery on the dress, the hair," he said. "This is the 'je ne sais quoi' of Leonardo. The genius. We don't know how he applied it."
The scan even revealed Leonardo's first conception of Mona Lisa.
"The 3-D imaging was able to detect the incised drawing to provide us with da Vinci's general conception for the composition," said Christian Lahanier, head of the documentation department of the French research center.
The artist brought the painting to France in 1517. It has been in the Louvre Museum since 1804.
The data collected in 16 hours of scanning, starting in 2004, took a year to analyze. It shows warping in the poplar panel Leonardo used as his canvas, but the Mona Lisa smile is not threatened.
"We didn't see any sign of paint lifting," Taylor said. "So for a 500-year-old painting, it's very good news. And if they continue to keep it the way they have in an environment-controlled chamber, it could remain like that for a very long time."
Menu said all the secrets behind the enigmatic painting have yet to be revealed, including Leonardo's techniques.
"We particularly want to understand how he painted his shadows, the famous 'fumato' effect," Menu said.
Don't go mentioning this in Frisco Texas. Nudity and Pregnancy are not politically correct educational topics.
You know, I was thinking the exact same thing.
Why do you think she was smiling? She was getting hosed big time!
This one? I agree.
Imagine a world without this... or the Venus de Milo... or Stephan Lochner's "The Virgin in the Rose Garden"....
I've always felt Mona Lisa needed eyebrows.
That's the very one, isn't it beautiful? Look at her eyes. If the eyes are truly windows to the soul than this lady is lovely indeed. I know all that has been said of her "she that was dull, stupid, without grace of form, knew no music and could not sing, blah, blah etc," but to me, I though her the loveliest of Henry the VIIIth's wives. Thanks for posting this. :O)
Remove Notre Dame brick by brick and bring it to the US. Empty the Lovre and every other museum in Europe that has artwork that would be destroyed/banned under Sharia Law.
Henry VIII had a vested interest in letting the "dull, stupid, without grace of form" etc slander get about; personally, I don't believe it, I'll believe Holbein's painting, she is serenely beautiful.
I do.
It was Tom Hanks...they met while he was filming the DiVinci Code, the had some wine, were talking, their hands accidently touched...well, you know the rest.
Last time I heard that was during the most memorable lap dance of my life...
Yes, Henry had a reason for not liking Anne, I think her name was Katherine Howard. LOL! The Duke of Norfolk was very uncomfortable with the idea of a Protestant queen, especially one put forth by Cromwell. Hence his pushing his niece on Henry who was more than eager to accept the girlish Katherine. By the time Anne made her way to England Henry no longer needed an alliance with the Protestant Princes. Poor Anne she never stood a chance against the intrigues of Henry's court.
Oh, Joe, Baby!!!
That musta been one looonnng lap dance!
However, she was fortunate enough to live out her life at Hever Castle, and didn't have capital offenses trumped up against her to get her out of the way.
Don't lop all of the "Euros" into one basket. The Poles have definitley got our back.
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