6 Mysteries about the Mona Lisa: The Truth Revealed!
What began as speculation, has evolved into an in-depth research.
Weโre talking about one of the most admired paintings in the world, The Mona Lisa.
Leonardo da Vinciโs masterpiece attracts about six million people to the Louvre each year, which makes it seem like the Mona Lisa has some hidden power.
In the recent years, researchers have been able to look past the alternations and varnish through the years, to bring out the reality of this beloved painting. The painting was scanned to find several details that had been missed by the naked eye.
Letโs take a look at some these mysteries being uncovered!
Image Credit: Economic Times
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Uneven Background
If you were to look closely at the scene that has been portrayed as the background, youโll see that one side is higher than the other. The scene to her right of her head seems to be painted at a higher level than that of the left. So, when you move your eyes from the right to the left, youโll notice a change. On one side, she appears to be more erect and taller, while on the other, not so much.
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The Mystery Woman
For long, people have been trying to figure out who has been immortalized by da Vinci. Initially it was proposed that Mona Lisa was a noblewoman โ Isabella dโEste, Marquise of Mantua, or Costanza dโAvalos, Duchess of Francavilla. Some said he painted himself in a feminine way, while some believe it was his presumed lover and assistant of 20 years, Gian Giacomo Caprotti. Today, it is agreed that the painting is that of Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo.
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Who knows what weโll find next!
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Zooming in on Details
It doesnโt really make sense for the woman in the portrait to not have eyebrows, right? Did da Vinci miss on painting them? Whatโs the reality? When experts zoomed into Mona Lisaโs left eye, they found a single brush stroke. Not in the eye, but in the region of the eyebrow. It was a single eyebrow hair!
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Weโre going to take a wild guess and say that da Vinci might have had a very strong reason for doing so.
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The Obsession
As it can be said for many artists, thereโs one piece of their work that they love more than the others. As for da Vinci, we can say that the Mona Lisa was his obsession. He supposedly carried it around with him during his travels and kept working on it for at least four years. You wonโt see a date or a sign on it, because according to him, it was never complete. The last sale of the painting was by King Franรงois I.
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Image Credit: Science Fridayย
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Great Technique
Thereโs no question that some of the most amazing things we know about paintings, including the techniques to be used have come from the past. Da Vinci being one of the prominent contributors. At a closer look of the painting, youโll see a veil. The transparency of it shows how much effort was put into creating the masterpiece. According to experts, he painted the landscape first, and then using transparency techniques added the veil atop.
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Unfinished
Trying to find whatโs unfinished in this piece that took da Vinci four years would be tough. Not with us around to help you! If you were to talk to experts, youโd find that the left finger was not completed. In fact, you can also see how he had positioned the left handโs index finger and then changed it to what we see now.ย
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There are a few other things weโd like to mention, some of which mat really blow your mind!
- Someone threw a rock at the painting in 1956, hitting the woman in the paintingโs elbow. This led to the restoration process.
- Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa on an uncut poplar board.
- Thereโs a blanket that covers the womanโs knees and her stomach.
- According to speculation, Mona Lisa might have been subject to domestic violence. Thereโs a small scar on her lip.
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What do you think of these revelations, so to say?
Weโre sure there might be several other things that are yet to be discovered about the Mona Lisa. After all, itโs that amazing a painting.
For now, although, discovering new facts about it every day is a please, isnโt it?
Uncovering the mysteries that lie behind one of the greatest paintings of all time is a please all of deserve!
Cheers to Leonardo da Vinci for painting a masterpiece the world has come to adore!
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If you found this article interesting, you might want to check out:
THE MOST FAMOUS PAINTINGS IN THE WORLD AND HOW THEY WERE STOLEN
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