Mona Lisa's eyebrows

[Waldo]

It is a question that has foxed art lovers for centuries: Why the hell is the Mona Lisa as bald as a coot in the eye brow department?

The answer to which you won't find here.

But there is a (slightly less interesting) question which we may be able to shed some light on thanks to a slightly eccentric French inventor spending 3,000 hours studying UV images of the picture: where they are.

Like a street walker the mysterious one's eye brows and lashes are hidden under layers of paint according to Parisian engineer Pascal Cotte who claims to have a special infared and ultraviolet scanning machine.
Mssr Cotte said his ultra-detailed digital scans of the painting allow him to effectively burrow through layers of paint to "see" into the past of Leonardo Da Vinci's 16th-century portrait of a Florentine merchant's wife.
The world's most famous painting originally included both brows and lashes, according to Cotte, who said his 240-megapixel scans reveal traces of Mona Lisa's left brow, obliterated by long-ago restoration efforts.

"With just one photo you go deeper into the construction of the painting and understand that Leonardo was a genius," Cotte said at the US debut of an exhibit detailing his findings.

Not only has Mona Lisa got hidden facial hair says Cotte but the emotional push-me-pull-you was definitely smiling.

Da Vinci also changed his mind about the position of two fingers on the subject's left hand and she is also holding a blanket that has all but faded from view today.

For more information go to: http://www.monalisarevealed.com

In terms of things to worry about, this is probably quite low on my list - certainly hasn't been keep me up at night!

[Tabatha]

Well they say you learn something everyday lol! I can't say I've ever given much thought to it either. Lisa x

[smartsez]

well i must admit, i've never lost sleep over it, but i do find it quite intreguing.

welcome to the site by the way Tabatha

[TheGuru]

I think that she plucked them out but forgot to draw them back on

Why do so many woman pluck them all out only to badly draw them back on

[smartsez]

Originally Posted by TheGuru

Why do so many woman pluck them all out only to badly draw them back on

I have absolutely no idea!

[TheGuru]

Originally Posted by smartsez

I have absolutely no idea!

Maybe for the same reason balding men do the daft comb over thing

[Tabatha]

I presume they like to keep up the pretence that there's still something there to look after . With regards to some women over plucking their eyebrows and then drawing back I suspect they got too carried away. The worst is when they pencil back in, but with a colour nothing like their own hair, one old lady on the bus today had used a bight orange pencil to give herself 'eyebrows'. Lisa x

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Tabatha

I presume they like to keep up the pretence that there's still something there to look after . With regards to some women over plucking their eyebrows and then drawing back I suspect they got too carried away. The worst is when they pencil back in, but with a colour nothing like their own hair, one old lady on the bus today had used a bight orange pencil to give herself 'eyebrows'. Lisa x

Ive seen similiar things

[madcat]

I think it's a nice touch for people to draw on their eyebrows. It's a thoughtful way to give many people a laugh in the course of the day!!!

Seriously though, it's terrible.. and yes, why do they never match the hair colour?? There are some very strange people out there!


MadCat