The scientists in France said that they have already broken some of the secrets of the Mona Lisa.
According to the researchers in France, they have been studying the Louvre Museum where people can find the arts and paintings of Leonardo da Vinci especially the famous Mona Lisa. They examine the master’s use of sequential ultrathin coatings of paint and polish- a method that gives da Vinci’s work a dramatic effect.
According to Philippe Walter, one of the experts in the Center for Research and Restoration of all the Museums in France found that the every masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci has the standard of significance. Moreover, the coatings of the paintings are almost half the thickness of the human hair or less than 40 micrometers.
The method, also known as sfumato allows da Vinci to give contours and schemes a blurred quality and make an illusion of shadow and depth. The use of this method is very famous but with the scientific study on it has been restricted because gathering data sometimes demand samples from the paintings.
The researchers used a specialty method device also known as the X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to examine the paint coatings and the composition of chemicals. They bring the high-tech device into the museum in closing time to study the faces of portraits that is exemplary of sfumato. The research was developed in association with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble.
Walter said in an interview by Associated Press that the gadget is very accurate and they can find the combination of pigments used by the painter for each layer of paint. In addition, it is very significant to study the method.
Walter also added that the investigation of the different paintings also shows that da Vinci is continuously trying out new techniques. Leonardo da Vinci used manganese oxide in shadowing the Mona Lisa while in the other paintings, da Vinci used cooper. Sometimes da Vinci used polish but not as always.