French scientist showed an image that was hidden under the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci
Pascal Cotte, a French engineer and art critic, has finally shown what Leonardo da Vinci's creations have revealed to him under a layer of paint. Thus, he confirmed his statement made a few days ago. Like, the portrait of Mona Lisa is painted on top of another. It also depicts a woman - very similar to the one whom the public has admired for about 500 years. And yet different. She looks somewhere to the side. Her nose is longer, her arms are larger, her lips are thinner. But most importantly: the woman does not smile. The mysterious smile playing on the lips of the one from the well-known portrait has disappeared. In addition, the shoulders were bared and the chest grew.
This is how Mona Lisa looks now.
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And it looked like this until Leonardo "smeared it over".
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According to Pascal Cottet, a technique he created helped him see the hidden image. And the so-called Layer Amplification Method (LAM) developed on its basis. Its essence is in the transmission of a picture with intense light of different wavelengths. Light penetrates to different depths and is reflected, revealing the layers located under the top layer of paint. The computer processes the reflected signals and visualizes the information received. Thus, if you believe the Frenchman, you can "follow" the stages of creating a painting. And see what was written first.
Promotional video:
Places with the most noticeable "amendments".
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Pascal Cottet with his LAM equipment was admitted to the painting by Leonardo da Vinci in 2004. Since then, he has worked his way through the layers of paint formed in the Mona Lisa. And recently I "got" to another portrait.
Kotte's research was reported on the BBC. Maybe there really is something in him?
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According to the most plausible hypothesis, Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the picture in the period from 1503 to 1517, posed for Lisa Gerardini del Giocondo - the wife of a wealthy silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo. He allegedly ordered her portrait.
If Pascal Cotte's technique really reveals the hidden, which many experts doubt, by the way, it turns out that Leonardo, for some reason, corrected his original creation. Of course, it turned out better than it was. Especially with a smile. But what exactly did that - now hidden - portrait not suit? And which of the Liz is more like herself - Lisa Gerardini del Giocondo?
The riddle could be solved by recreating the face of the merchant. This was very much wanted by Professor Silvano Vinceti, head of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage, who excavated the abandoned convent of St. Ursula in Florence. There, judging by the documents found, Liza was buried in 1542. Scientists eventually dug up her skeleton. But he was headless. As they say, the mystery has sunk into oblivion.
Art critics believe that the one that is now visible should be considered the real Mona Lisa.
People like the current Mona Lisa.
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BTW
Many-sided portrait
Some experts claim that no one posed for Leonardo da Vinci at all. Like, a mysteriously smiling lady is a collective image of either a noble and wealthy Florentine woman, or, on the contrary, a woman of easy virtue.
The hypothesis that the portrait was based on a self-portrait of da Vinci himself is very popular.
Mona Lisa may well be a "self-portrait".
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There is a version associated with the beloved student and apprentice Leonardo. He was supposedly the model. Hence, such a strange smile, in fact, hides this very secret - both the model and the relationship of two men. The reinforcement of the "student" version was provided by the same Vinceti a few years ago.
Here, his beloved disciple certainly posed for the master - but he, however, is very similar to Mona Lisa.
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First, in the library of the French city of Nantes, the professor discovered Leonardo's manuscript written in mirror. And in it - an instruction to examine the Mona Lisa through a magnifying glass. What the scientist did, having received permission from the French. After all, the painting is in the Louvre.
In the right eye of Mona Lisa, Vincheti saw the letters LV, which, he said, could be the initials of the master. In the left eye - the letter "S" seems to be inscribed. What can Salai mean - the devil. Namely, this is how the very student was often called, and then the model, Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, who entered Leonardo's apprentice at the age of 10. The master himself was then 38.
Lisa has signs in her eyes.
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Salai was very handsome. Da Vinci wrote from him "John the Baptist", whose face is very similar to the face of Mona Lisa. And the smile looks like …
And finally, there is a hypothesis that Leonardo posed Bianca Giovanna Sforza, daughter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, who owned the city of Bobbio. This assumption was made by Carla Glory, an art historian from Italy, after she also examined the Mona Lisa with a magnifying glass. I found in my eye not only the letter "S", but also the "G" - and decided that they could mean Giovanna Sforza. Karla also found the number "72" on the bridge, which is visible in the portrait behind the left shoulder of Mona Lisa.
As the researcher established, Leonardo depicted a bridge over the Trebbia River, which flows through the city of Bobbio. And he drew "72" as a hint that the bridge was washed away by a flood in 1472. And all this, they say, points to Bianca - the daughter of the duke. And the landscape that was visible from the window of her father's castle.