Mona Lisa Smile

Story Published: Oct 22, 2007 at 4:36 PM EDT

Story Updated: Oct 22, 2007 at 4:36 PM EDT

What's behind that Mona Lisa smile?
There are new details about one of the world's most famous
paintings.
A French engineer and inventor says ultra-detailed digital scans
through layers of paint show Mona Lisa's smile was more expressive
and her face was wider than artist Leonardo Da Vinci ultimately
painted.
Pascal Cotte says he spent about three thousand hours analyzing
the 16th century portrait of a Florentine merchant's wife.
Cotte says scans of the painting reveal Mona Lisa had eyebrows
and lashes too.
He says they got wiped out by restorations.
Cotte also says Mona Lisa was holding a blanket -- but it has
all but faded from view today.
Though some art historians are expressing skepticism about his
findings, Cotte hopes his technique can be used as a guide for
future restoration work on aging art treasures around the world.
Since scanning the Mona Lisa, Cotte has made
super-high-resolution photographs of more than 500 paintings
--including works by Van Gogh and other European masters. (ABC) MRK
(from Broadcast News Ltd.)

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