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Mona Lisa reveals new secrets

16 July 2010 01:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A new study has revealed traces of a technique used by Leonardo da Vinci to create the shading on the face of Mona Lisa, his greatest masterpiece, APA reports quoting presstv.ir website.

According to the study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry found an explanation for the ultra-thin layers of glaze and pigment used to achieve light to dark transitions.

Philippe Walter and colleagues studied nine faces, including Mona Lisa’s, from seven paintings by da Vinci and discovered more about a technique known as ’sfumato.’

Some Renaissance painters used this method to produce delicate changes in tones or colors in paintings, BBC reported.

Scientists found that da Vinci used glaze layers or a very thin paint, with special attention to the nature of pigments or additives.

Their study showed that the artist applied glazes in layers just a couple of micrometers thick increasing the thickness to no more than 30 to 40 micrometers.

Virgin of the Rocks, Saint John the Baptist, Annunciation, Bacchus, Belle Ferronniere and The Virgin and Child with St. Anne were the other paintings studied by the team.