A hidden portrait underneath (在……下面) the “Mona Lisa” has been discovered by a French scientist, who said he uncovered the image using reflective light technology. The digitally reconstructed image of the hidden portrait was presented at a press conference by scientist Pascal Cotte, who's been analyzing the Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece for over a decade. Cotte said he uncovered the image using a camera that took images of the painting under intense light.
The hidden portrait showed a sitting figure that looks almost the same as the “Mona Lisa.” There are small but great differences. The sitter in the image appears to be looking to the side rather than directly at the viewer, and the sitter does not seem to have the smile that has attracted “Mona Lisa”viewers for over 500 years.
Cotte also said that his findings challenged the widely accepted theory that the “Mona Lisa” is a painting of a real life Italian woman Lisa Gheradini in the 16th century. “The results change our vision of Leonardo's masterpiece forever，” he said. “When I finished the reconstruction of Lisa Gherardini, I was in front of the portrait, and she is totally different to ‘Mona Lisa’ today. This is not the same woman.”
In a recent documentary, art historian, Andrew GrahamDixon, said he studied historical documents linked to the “Mona Lisa” alongside Cotte's findings and came to the same conclusion as Cotte.“I think the new discoveries are like a huge stone thrown into the still water of art history，”GrahamDixon said.“They disturb everything that we thought that we knew about the ‘Mona Lisa’．There may be some reluctance (不情愿) on the part of the authorities to think about changing the title of the painting because that's what we're talking about. It's ‘Goodbye, Mona Lisa.’ She is somebody else.”
The Louvre Museum declined to comment on the findings, saying it was not a part of the scientific team that studied the painting. Other art historians remain doubtful about the claims that Cotte's findings could prove the “Mona Lisa” was someone else rather than Lisa Gheradini.
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