For nearly 500 years, people have gazed at the Mona Lisa with a sense of bafflement - first she is smiling then the smile fades; a moment later it returns, to dissapear again.
Now, scientists claimto have uncovered the secret of how Leonardo produced the optical effects that created the enigmatic smile of Mona Lisa..
A team in Europe has found that the artist managed to reach the trade mark smoky effect, known as sfumato, on the painting by applying upto 40 layers of extremely thin glaze, thought to have been smeared with his fingers.
The glaze, mixed with subtly different pigments, creates the slight blurringand the shadows around the mouth that give the Mona Lisa the barely noticeable smile that seems to dissapear when looked at directly.
Using X-rays to study the painting, the scientist were able to see the layers of paint and glaze had been built up to varying levels on different areas of the face.
With the drying time for the glaze taking months, such effects would have taken years to achieve.
By,
N.T.Ganatma
Source: The Hindu Newspaper
0 comments:
Post a Comment