Hi-Res Pic of 'Mona Lisa' Raises Some Eyebrows

Faded pigments and poor cleaning probably obliterated the hair
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 18, 2007 3:00 PM CDT
Hi-Res Pic of 'Mona Lisa' Raises Some Eyebrows
Leonardo: Mona Lisa   (Archive Photos)

Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" has eyebrows and eyelashes, according to one French inventor, answering a long-standing question about the haunting image painted some 500 years ago. Pascal Cotte said he made the discovery using a camera that yielded a 150,000-dots-per-inch photograph, CNN reports, magnifying her face 24 times to reveal a single hair above the left brow.

Cotte attributes the lack of additional hair to faded pigment or a poor cleaning. Other images show that da Vinci narrowed the model's smile and that her left hand was initially positioned differently. The study, on display in San Francisco, has allowed for a virtual restoration of the painting, a replica that depicts the original's warm pinks and glowing blues. (More Mona Lisa stories.)

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