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10 February 2025

Can the real Mona Lisa please show up?

Mona Lisa (Getty Images)

Published
By Staff

So, what exactly lies within the layers of the world-famous Mona Lisa painting?

A French scientist claims to have discovered a portrait of another woman hidden under the famous painting Mona Lisa. He believes ‘Mona Lisa’ not be the real her as what lies under a woman who boasts a bigger head, nose, and hands, as well as smaller lips.

Pascal Cotte, co-foundeder of a Paris-based company that digitizes fine art, has been studying Da Vinci's signature piece for 10 years. He uses a technology called the Layer Amplification Method, or LAM, which involves shining "intense" light onto a painting, then measuring the bounced-back reflections to gauge what's underneath, the Newsweek stated.

As per Cotte what lies under the surface of the ‘Mona Lisa’ is an image of a woman looking off to the side  unlike the original where she is looking straight ahead. He also claims that the lady underneath has different physical characteristics in comparison model that currently smiles down on crowds at the Louvre.

Cotte, says, "it was a portrait [that woman's] husband never received. Instead, Leonardo went on to paint the world's most famous picture over the top."

However, many find it difficult to believe Cotte’s findings.

Oxford University’s art history professor told BBC that the new model was likely to be an "evolution" of the final Mona Lisa in which Da Vinci kept painting over the previous version until he got the result he wanted.

"I am absolutely convinced that the Mona Lisa is Lisa," he says.

The Louvre refrained from commenting as it "was not part of the scientific team" that analyzed the painting, per the BBC.