The Mona Lisa also revealed another secret.
Using X-rays to see the chemical structure of tiny spots famous works of artScientists have shed new light on the technique Leonardo da Vinci used to create his seminal portrait of the woman with a delicate, enigmatic smile.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, shows that the Italian Renaissance master known for his intellectual curiosity, erudition, and creativity was in the early 16th century when he set out to create the Mona Lisa. , probably in a particularly experimental mood. century.
A team of French and British scientists and art historians discovered that the oil painting formula Leonardo used as the base layer to prepare the poplar wood panels appeared to be different from the Mona Lisa, with its own unique chemical signature.
“He was a man who loved experimentation, and each of his paintings was technically completely different,” said Victor Gonzalez, the study’s lead author and a chemist at CNRS, France’s top research institute. Gonzalez studied the chemical composition of dozens of works by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt and other artists.
“What’s interesting in this case is that there is really a special technology underneath the Mona Lisa,” he told The Associated Press in an interview.
Specifically, the researchers discovered a rare compound, leadite, in Da Vinci’s first layer of paint. Gonzalez said the discovery was the first to confirm art historians’ previous assumptions: Leonardo likely used lead oxide powder to thicken and help dry his portraits when he began creating the portraits that now peer out from behind protective glass. paint.this Louvre Museum in Paris.
one of many secrets
Carmen Bambach, an Italian art expert and director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art who was not involved in the study, called the study “very exciting” and said any scientifically proven knowledge about Leonardo da Vinci New insights into painting techniques are “extremely important news for people.” the arts community and our larger global society. “
Bambach said in an email that the discovery of leadite in the Mona Lisa is a testament to “Leonardo’s passion and spirit of constant experimentation as a painter – which made him both timeless and modern.”
The underlying paint chip of the Mona Lisa analyzed is barely visible to the naked eye, no larger than the diameter of a human hair, and comes from the upper right corner of the painting.
Scientists use X-rays to observe their atomic structure in synchrotrons, large machines that accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light. This allowed them to unravel the chemical composition of the spot. Plumbonacrite is a byproduct of lead oxide, which allows researchers to say with greater certainty that Leonardo likely used the powder in his paint formula.
“Plumbonacrite is really the fingerprint of his formula,” Gonzalez said. “This is the first time we’ve been able to actually confirm it chemically.”
Following Leonardo, the Dutch master Rembrandt may have used a similar formula when painting in the 17th century; González and other researchers had previously discovered leadite in his work.
“It also tells us that these recipes have been passed down for centuries,” Gonzalez said. “This is a really good recipe.”
Leonardo is thought to have dissolved orange lead oxide powder in linseed or walnut oil and heated the mixture to create a thicker, faster-drying paste.
“You’re going to get an oil that has a really nice golden color,” Gonzalez said. “It flows more like honey.”
But the Mona Lisa – which the Louvre says is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant – and other works by Leonardo remain intact. Other secrets to tell.
“Of course, there is much, much more to discover. We have only scratched the surface,” Gonzalez said. “What we’re talking about are just little building blocks of knowledge.”
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