Mona Incinta?

Not a new proposal, but this time based upon more than idle supposition:

The famous smile on Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa could be because she is pregnant or had just had a baby, research suggests.

Canadian scientists used laser and infrared scans to produce a 3D image of the painting.

This allowed details beneath layers of paint to be seen - including a gauzy dress then associated with pregnant or new mothers.

It also showed the 500-year-old picture was in good condition.

The scans, using a resolution 10 times finer than a human hair, did reveal some warping to the wooden back of the painting.

The warpage one doesn't need a scan to detect, however. From the BBC.

Posted by David on September 27, 2006 5:43 PM