National Geographic Museum Blog

As a final coda to our series of the secrets of Mona Lisa, we look more closely at her “missing” eyelashes and eyebrows.

Knowing Leonardo da Vinci’s extreme precision and his great insistence on reproducing nature perfectly, one has extreme difficulty imagining that he did not paint such important elements concerning a model. What became of Mona Lisa’s eyelashes and eyebrows?

In October 2004, Pascal Cotte photographed the Mona Lisa in the Louvre with his patent multispectral camera. He concentrated all the power of his 240,000,000 pixel camera uniquely on the face, permitting him to reach the unbelievable resolution of 1500dpi – a first. In the exhibition currently on display at National Geographic Museum you can see a gigantic enlargement of Mona Lisa’s eyes and expression, enlarged over 25 times.

In Pascal’s opinion there are three hypotheses as to the missing facial features:

1. Either the extremely fine painting of the eyelashes – probably earth mixed with oil -blended together with the undercoat.
2. Perhaps through aging, the oil became transparent along with the pigment. This hypothesis is confirmed on Mona Lisa elsewhere. You see the right column which is beginning to disappear.
3. Perhaps the painting of the eyelashes has disappeared due to imperfect cleaning of the varnish. The network of slightly reduced crackling around the eyes and mouth supports this hypothesis.

Only ten days remain to visit Design for the Other 90%. Come check out design innovations such as the Big Boda bike.

The Big Boda is able to carry hundreds of pounds of cargo or two additional passengers easily, at a substantially lower cost than other forms of human-powered utility vehicles. It was designed to transport goods to and from market for entrepreneurs and consumers in developing countries. WorldBike originally designed a low-cost frame extension called the Longtail to be compatible with the low-cost Chinese-made single-speeds ubiquitous in East Africa. In 2005, it was redesigned to be more suitable with the Western Kenyan Boda Boda bicycle-taxi operators and for easier manufacturing in small workshops.

1. Designers: WorldBike, Adam French (first phase), Ed Lucero with contributions from Paul Freedman, Matt Snyder, Ross Evans, Moses Odhiambo, and Jacob [last name?] (second phase)
2. Manufacturer: WorldBike and Moses Odhiambo’s workshop
3. Kenya, 2002–05
4. Mild steel, woven papyrus passenger cushion
5. Dimensions: 84” h x 48” w x 24” d
6. In use in: Kenya, Uganda

American Peregrine Falcon – less than or equal to 9,800
Falco peregrinus anatum
Raptor Recovery, Elmwood, Nebraska

A beneficiary of DDT restrictions, the peregrine falcon was removed from the endangered species list in 1999. Capable of diving through the air at 200 miles per hour, these missile-like birds of prey are now widespread throughout the United States.

1. Leonardo changed his mind as to the position of the fingers (the index and the middle finger of the left hand).
2. A blanket covers Mona Lisa’s knees and passes above her wrist (the wrist is slightly bent). This then justifies the position of the upright hand that supports the cover on her stomach.
3. The fingers of the left hand hold or retain the blanket on her knees. The pleats of the blanket rejoin the fingers.
4. The small columns of the armrest are clearly visible.
5. This discovery reveals a fascinating fact dismissed until only recently… stayed tuned for next Friday’s blog post…

With engineer Pascal Cotte’s multispectral camera and detailed computer analysis, we are capable of accurately reproducing the masterpiece and revealing all the details of its history.

Some of the secrets revealed by modern analysis of La Gioconda as the Mona Lisa is known in Italy:

1. The preparatory drawings of the left column.
2. The railing is made of a wood parquet construction.
3. Appearance of the right armrest and the drawing of the armchair that passes under the veil.
4. The repair of the elbow was necessary after Ugo Ungaza Villegas, a young Bolivian, damaged the painting by throwing a rock at it in 1956.
5. The finger is not totally finished by Leonardo.

Red Knot – approximately 18,350
Calidris canutus rufa
Gandys Beach, New Jersey

During their spring migration, these birds feed exclusively on horseshoe crab eggs, mostly in the Delaware Bay. But horseshoe crabs have been overharvested for bait and will take years to recover. Whether the birds that depend on the crabs can wait that long is another story.

This week’s revealing secrets of Mona Lisa focus on items Leonardo painted but are no longer visible to the naked eye. This includes the under drawing, or layers beneath the evident painting, as well as items that have faded, such as the lace flourish on her dress.

1. We see the transparency of the veil painted by glacis (a glaze painting technique) onto and after the landscape was painted. With this we learn the way Leonardo paints and the order he paints things.
2. The column became transparent over time. Sometimes with certain pigments, the oil becomes more transparent with aging.
3. The remainder of the lace disappeared from her dress.
4. The under drawing (preparatory drawing) of the interlace is identified.
5. An invisible interlace appears and provides us with the understanding that the veil was painted later.

Santa Catalina Island Fox – 784
Urocyon littoralis catalinae
Quail Valley Fox Clinic, Santa Catalina Island, California

Living labs of evolution, six of California’s eight Channel Islands have their own subspecies of island fox. Visitors to Catalina often bring dogs, which can spread the distemper virus to the foxes. An island-wide vaccination program is proving so successful that Catalina’s foxes may soon leave the federal endangered list.

No, we won’t be melting the peeps from our Peepa Cotta Warriors Easter diorama….we are inviting you to come create s’mores with solar power and learn a lot about home solar cooking along the way.

Our first Solar Oven Workshop was such a success that we have decided to host a second FREE workshop on Saturday, August 28 from 2pm-4pm. Last time registration filled up rather quickly so be sure to email NatGeoMuseum@ngs.org to reserve a spot.

Learn all about solar cooking in a demonstration from Solar Household Energy Incorporated, an organization founded in 1998 to introduce solar cooking where it can add quality to life and alleviate stress on the environment. Be amazed as the sun’s rays cook rice in three different solar ovens. Take the same technology home with you when you create your own solar oven out of little more than a pizza box.

Don’t forget to leave to time to visit the exhibition Design for the Other 90% to learn more about solar innovations.