Scientists may have disco vered the secret behind one of the most famous mysteries of the history of art Mona Lisa smile.
The experts from two universities in the UK said that further study of another painting believed by Leonardo da Vinci, La Bella Principessa, try the same technique of "unattainable smile" is used. The illusion behind Mona Lisa's enigmatic quality is believed to originate in the fact that seems to be smiling up to the viewer looks directly into the subject's mouth, at which time seems to mush.
The big question for the experts is whether this effect -created through a complex combination of colors and shades' was designed by Da Vinci himself.
Research has shown La Bella Principessa be an ear lier work by the same artist, according to professor of psychology at Sheffield Hallam and expert on visual perception Ales sandro Soranzo. The painting is thought to represent 13-year-old Bianca Sforza, daughter of Ludovico Sforza (Il Moro), duke of Milan, before her marriage to a commander of the forces of Milan.
Soranzo said, "the existence of a similar illusion in a picture before the Mona Lisa becomes more interesting." The expert and his team used a series of experiments to examine how the viewer perceives the two paintings when factors such as the viewing distance and the level of "blur" applied to the image altered.
They also examined a third painting, portrait of a girl Piero del Pollaiuolo, as control.
The researchers found that, when viewed from a greater distance or a greater blur effect, smiles are perceived in the two paintings increased. The same was not true of the piece by the Pollaiuolo. Soranzo said: "Given the dominance of da Vinci's technique and its subsequent use in the Mona Lisa, it is quite conceivable that the ambiguity of the effect was intentional."
The experts from two universities in the UK said that further study of another painting believed by Leonardo da Vinci, La Bella Principessa, try the same technique of "unattainable smile" is used. The illusion behind Mona Lisa's enigmatic quality is believed to originate in the fact that seems to be smiling up to the viewer looks directly into the subject's mouth, at which time seems to mush.
The big question for the experts is whether this effect -created through a complex combination of colors and shades' was designed by Da Vinci himself.
Research has shown La Bella Principessa be an ear lier work by the same artist, according to professor of psychology at Sheffield Hallam and expert on visual perception Ales sandro Soranzo. The painting is thought to represent 13-year-old Bianca Sforza, daughter of Ludovico Sforza (Il Moro), duke of Milan, before her marriage to a commander of the forces of Milan.
Soranzo said, "the existence of a similar illusion in a picture before the Mona Lisa becomes more interesting." The expert and his team used a series of experiments to examine how the viewer perceives the two paintings when factors such as the viewing distance and the level of "blur" applied to the image altered.
They also examined a third painting, portrait of a girl Piero del Pollaiuolo, as control.
The researchers found that, when viewed from a greater distance or a greater blur effect, smiles are perceived in the two paintings increased. The same was not true of the piece by the Pollaiuolo. Soranzo said: "Given the dominance of da Vinci's technique and its subsequent use in the Mona Lisa, it is quite conceivable that the ambiguity of the effect was intentional."
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