One of many discoveries found by French and Canadian researchers suggest the woman depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was either pregnant or had recently given birth when she sat for the painting. The researchers were using three-dimensional technology to study the Mona Lisa in one of the most extensive physical examinations ever carried out on the painting.
"Thanks to laser scanning, we were able to uncover the very fine gauze veil Mona Lisa was wearing on her dress. This was something typical for either soon-to-be or new mothers at the time," Michel Menu, research director of the French Museums' Center for Research and Restoration, said on LCI television.
"We now have very precise information about the thickness of the layers," Bruno Mottin, of the French restoration center, told reporters in Ottawa, Canada.
"We know how the painting is painted, with very thin layers of painting. That's one of the things we couldn't see by the naked eye, and that Canadian technology brought us."
Menu said all the secrets behind the enigmatic painting have yet to be revealed.
Da Vinci brought the Mona Lisa to France in 1517. It has been in the Louvre Museum since 1804.
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dont take my comment as a joke,but she may was also has a big stomach,i mean in arabic "kersh",thats why she was hiding herself by the veil,like many women and girls who have this problem and do the same thing and its not a must to be fat to have this defaut in ur body,i mean its not necessary that she was pragnent or give a birth recently maybe she wasnt taking care about her fitness..:)
especially that mona liza wasnt that much pretty,she got her famous from her amazing smile and charismatic eyes,but she seemed an ordinary woman who have a limited beauty but full of attraction,so there is a probability that she wasnt fit or have the model's body...
nouza.being pregnant is different than having a 'kersh'.first and foremost,the stomach looks entirely different when someone is pregnant or fat round the stomach. i thought you'd be smarter than that.secondly, in those ancient days an artist didnt have to paint a model(if by model you meant pretty or skinny).it was an artist's job to paint people,have you ever read the book based on Johannes Vermeer's paintings?it's called 'Girl With a Pearl Earring.I'd advise you to read it...not only is it interesting but it gives you an insider on how an artist's life was thousands of years ago.however Da Vinci's paintings are highly sophisticated and the people he had painted were intriguing enough to match the level of sophistication within his art work.
Actually bake u didnt read the article or my comment carefuly,it said that she may was pragnent or has GIVE A BIRTH RECENTLY,and from this point i got my prediction that she may has big stomach,i think their information is not accurate 100%,when the woman give birth her stomach has the same shape of a "kersh" or fat around stomach as u said,the researches didnt determine whether she is pragnent or give a birth to a child recently,while both shapes r completley diffrent,when the woman is pragnent her stomach is like a solid ballon but when she gave birth her stomach become exactly as a woman who has fat around this erea in specific and i saw that by myself coz one of my friends after she gave birth she made an operation in her stomach for this reason,and when i said that she wasnt a model "without reading the book u told me about"4 sure i know that artists were painting some times even women who r handicapt as for example without leg or arm,but i was speaking about Mona Liza in specific that her beauty comes from her smile and attractive eyes not from her body as these days the model should has perfect body,and i shouldnt be interested in the Art of paint to know this information or to be smart as u said!,for sure i saw any of this paints in a movie or in a book or a magazine or on the enter-net and yes not all the model choosen have perfect body and one time i saw a picture for 3 women over fat while they r eating..hope u got my idea blake