"Mona Lisa" might not be the only piece Leonardo Da Vinci painted on that canvas. French scientist Pascal Cotte says he has found three other paintings beneath the 500-year-old Da Vinci masterpiece after more than 10 years of analysis with reflect light technology. The technique "used a multispectral camera to project intense lights on to the painting while measuring the reflections... [to] expose what happened between the paint layers," CNN reports.
A reconstruction of one of the hidden paintings reveals what appears to be a woman gazing off to the distance, with no signs of Mona Lisa's famous slight smile. Cotte thinks that this woman might be the real Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a silk merchant — rather than the woman in the "Mona Lisa."
"The results shatter many myths and alter our vision of Leonardo's masterpiece forever," Cotte said in a statement. "When I finished the reconstruction of Lisa Gherardini, I was in front of the portrait and she is totally different to Mona Lisa today. This is not the same woman."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Not everyone in the art world is buying this theory, however. While art historian Martin Kemp lauded Cotte's technique as "highly innovatory," he told CNN that he thinks the hidden paintings are simply part of the evolution to the final product. "There are considerable changes during the course of the making of the portrait — as is the case with most of Leonardo's paintings," Kemp told CNN. "I prefer to see a fluid evolution from a relatively straightforward portrait of a Florentine woman into a philosophical and poetic picture that has universal dimension."
-
England’s ‘dysfunctional’ children’s care systemIn the Spotlight A new report reveals that protection of youngsters in care in England is failing in a profit-chasing sector
-
Cider farms to visit this autumnThe Week Recommends With harvest season fast approaching, spend an afternoon at one of these idyllic orchards
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the USUnder the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
