Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
July 18, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The enigmatic smile of the famous Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting “Mona Lisa” that has left almost all the artist and portrait lovers in the world with the question of the technique of the painting that the artist had put to use will now perhaps have an answer. Researchers from the Paris based Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France, carried out the experiment to find the mystery of the near perfect skin tone that the artist along with many other Renaissance artist was able to achieve.

The specialists have put to use X-ray techniques to “unpeel” the layers of the famous painting “Mona Lisa”. The researchers were interested to know the how the artist was able to achieve the barely perceptible gradual change of color tone from dark to light. The scientists have been able to decipher that the Renaissance painter used the technique of “sfumato” to achieve this subtlety of color tone. The unraveling allowed the scientists to study the thickness of the paint layers and determine its composition. Researcher Philippe Walter said to media sources that the study has revealed that Leonardo Da Vinci painted up to 30 layers of paint to get that texture and standard adding at the same time that all the layers are less than 40 micrometers in thickness.

According to Philippe Walter, the research will help art historians by revealing many facts about the technique and material used by the painter. He said that it will keep in front of the painter the data of how Leonardo Da Vinci made his materials for painting….the amount of oil mixed with pigments, the nature of the organic materials and so on.