Where is the original mona lisa painting
The Mona Lisa || The Secrets of Mona Lisa || Leonardo da Vinci Famous Painting~ Documentary
the Mona Lisa bewitching seductive
world-famous
in the minds of millions she is the
ultimate work of art endlessly
photographed and admired yet behind the
enigmatic smile she remains a mystery
who was she
why was she painted and what has made
her the world's most famous painting
after 500 years in the spotlight the
Mona Lisa is finally giving up her
secrets centuries-old documents are at
last revealing long-forgotten truths
this is wonderful I've got a shiver down
my spine state of the art technology is
taking us beneath the painted surface to
decode astonishing new evidence
[Music]
wow that's quite a big discoveries
this investigation the first full
forensic examination of the latest
discoveries takes me round the world in
the hunt for the truth
about Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece
with exclusive access and some
extraordinary encounters the first
impression was I did well not to jump
backwards in in shock these revelations
will change everything we thought we
knew about history's most enigmatic work
of art that's great to reach straight a
new discovery and unlock the secrets of
the Mona Lisa all of this together marks
an extraordinary moment in the history
of art but more than that this is quite
simply one of the stories of the century
[Music]
[Music]
500 years ago a man painted a woman the
man was Leonardo da Vinci artist
inventor genius and the result of his
work was the inscrutable portrait we now
know as the Mona Lisa it's a masterpiece
but one of the few works he actually
finished so what draws us to the Mona
Lisa she's not a famous monarch or a
legendary historical figure we know
hardly anything about her so what is it
about this picture that grips the human
imagination for so many centuries I want
to begin my investigation by comparing
notes with the detective who's been on
the case for more than 30 years
one of the world's leading experts on
Leonardo da Vinci Oxford Professor
Martin Kemp has spent much of his life
obsessed by the mystery of the Mona Lisa
what do you think is that the key to the
Mona Lisa's extraordinary stature as
without doubt the world's most famous
painting well it has to be something
inherent in the picture some things are
famous for being famous and we live in
an age of celebrity and lots of
celebrities are famous for being famous
but they're not going to last this has
gone on for ages it is just
extraordinary you've got this sense of a
something which is beyond pigment and
beyond a good likeness and being beyond
a face and it it just has that totally
uncanny living presence
it's very daring at the time for a woman
in a portrait to look at you know
woman's portrait simply didn't do that
and I think the ambiguity the the tease
the visual tease is something that learn
how to absolutely cultivated
look at the Mona Lisa and you can't help
feeling there's more going on than meets
the eye if her teasing smiles a question
mark the paintings are riddle what makes
a human being live and breathe what
forces govern the world we live in
Leonardo thought about these questions
as deeply as anyone and behind this
breathtakingly lifelike image lay years
of investigation into spheres of
knowledge like geology and Anatomy some
of which were forbidden by the church
tantalizing evidence for the research
that went into the Mona Lisa lies hidden
in Windsor Castle amongst the gems of
the Royal Collection is an intriguing
clue to the genesis of the portrait a
page from what might be called the real
da Vinci Code if you want to see or have
some sense of just how much work there
was behind the surface of the picture
then this is a great place to start
it's sheet of drawings by Leonardo's own
hand and what does it contain
in faint outline look here it's a bit
like the Cheshire Cat it's the Mona
Lisa's smile without the Mona Lisa
attached it may well have been
Leonardo's first groupings towards his
idea for the painting it's a series of
studies of the human mouth the motions
of the mouth how the mouth puckers how
the mouth bears its teeth you have a
very strong sense that for Leonardo
every picture is a kind of encyclopedia
entry and this is just that part of it
dealing with the mouth it's just the tip
of the iceberg
the Mona Lisa is the work into which
Leonardo poured everything he knew about
humanity and the world that surrounds us
with its ceaseless play of light and
shade but there's a mystery there too
and it's staring us in the face who is
the woman with the enigmatic smile it's
a question that has fuelled all kinds of
speculation ranging from the ingenious
to the crackpot she's a pregnant mother
to be she's a prostitute
she's even a man in drag but if you look
beyond the theories there are clues to
her true identity
Florence 1500 after many years away
Leonardo da Vinci has returned to the
city of his youth he's come back to work
on ambitious military projects for
powerful man he says he's too busy to
paint portraits of wealthy aristocrats
who clamor after him
yet according to one writer Leonardo
somehow finds time to paint the portrait
not of a noblewoman but of a humble
merchants wife called Lisa it was here
that Leonardo da Vinci began the most
famous painting in the world and it was
here that Giorgio Vasari the inventor of
the very idea of the Renaissance the
author of the very first book about the
Renaissance produced Exhibit A in the
case of the Mona Lisa the very first
account of the painting who was she she
was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo a
rich merchant he commissioned Leonardo
to create her portrait and Leonardo
responded with a picture says Vasari so
miraculously lifelike that it seems to
be made of flesh not paint Leonardo he
says wanted to avoid the melancholy
that dominates so many other portraits
so he employed musicians entertainers
buffoons to keep her amused so there you
have it the wife of Francesco del
Giocondo and the smile caused by
entertainers hired by the artist an
open-and-shut case or is it
how can we be sure that the sari was
right and that Leonardo did indeed paint
Lisa del Giocondo after all Vasari wrote
his account 30 years after Leonardo's
death and although he did his homework
here in Florence he never disclosed his
sources so could it just be hearsay some
inaccurate local legend for centuries
there was no way of telling
then suddenly new evidence emerged from
a completely unexpected source in 2006 a
research scholar working in the
university library of heidelberg turned
up this what it is is a page from a copy
of Cicero the ancient Roman author a
book that was once owned here in
Florence by a man called Augustine or
Vespucci and not only does it have
Cicero's text but it's got the speeches
commentaries and this particular passage
is crucial because in it Cicero is
discussing a Pelley's the ancient Greek
artist and his remarks prompt Vespucci
to make his own notes his marginal note
and what he writes it's a kind of
bombshell mr. Leonardo studies he says a
Pelley's he did just the same thing as
Leonardo in his portrait of Lisa del
Giocondo and best of all there's a date
October 1503 said this was written
almost immediately after this book she
must have seen the portrait of Lisa del
Giocondo eaten Leonardo da Vinci's
workshop this is coal dust and it proves
that Vasari was definitely right in at
least one sense all along Leonardo
definitely did paint a portrait Lisa del
Giocondo
[Music]
there you have it independent testimony
from a man in Florence in 1503 who
probably saw the picture still wet on
the artist's easel but now there's
another question why did Leonardo paint
the Lisa when the great and powerful
couldn't coax a picture from him
why agree to paint this obscure woman
one man has made it his life's work to
uncover forgotten secrets about Lisa
Giuseppe pelant II has found new details
in the city archive historical dynamite
beginning with the house where Lisa
daughter of the gardenias was born
on this street this is the street where
the Mona Lisa once lived
yes Lisa leave it in the dark and narrow
street of Florence
what was her family background
a la magic the magic parte de la
famiglia I don't know Pete cognac to
Johnny so there was no a Dobby Nash
Dobby not ELISA era un antique abou tiga
para la virgen de la Llana
a footrace for Martha in abbis attorney
Downey de una familia en una gran
dedicate Super K Y get our Dini no net
below my una Casa propia fidelity we
never had their own house endowed
Giuseppe's discoveries have deepened the
mystery if Lisa's origins were so humble
why did the notoriously choosy Leonardo
consent to paint her in another part of
town
giuseppe believes he's found the answer
some of me pura vida de la casa
Eduardo Bay Lisa and contrato Francesco
del Giocondo esposa Francesco del
Giocondo the the place is there it is
important for another reason because in
front of this building leave the cell
Piero Leonardo's father her own said it
again Lisa Gherardini was living here at
the time his father was living now yes
Pez okay Francesco Kay Leonardo C estado
da ba Bou a travel it Babu Kakui
la familia del different didn't our da
Vinci de vive quasi de fronteira Cassidy
Mona Lisa
trot raccoon SEO no not Roja leg amento
Francesco del Giocondo Eric ent
disappearo
selfie are only a few in fluent e
important image i dissidents
so he was a you're saying that Francesco
del Giocondo the marksman he was
actually a client of Leonardo's father's
yes well this is all new yes it's all
new for the first time we have a
concrete connection between Leonardo and
Lisa not only were they neighbors their
families did business together and
there's more
Giuseppe tells me that according to
police records of the time
Francesco had a bit of a reputation
described as GAD rules or meaning
swaggering he wasn't just a merchant on
the rise but an aggressive deal maker
who'd stop at almost nothing to get his
way maybe this is the real reason
leonardo agreed to paint his wife maybe
francesca made him an offer he couldn't
refuse
in the parish church of San Lorenzo
there's another crucial piece of
evidence something that had slipped
through the net of history until just a
few years ago when Giuseppe found it the
record of Mona Lisa's death wonderful
thing
the handwriting isn't very easy to
follow because the entries in these
books weren't actually made by notaries
like Leonardo da Vinci's father they
were actually made by the priests in the
church but I think I have found her here
she is this is wonderful oh I've got a
shiver down my spine
Lisa Donna for thee Francesco del
Giocondo
so Lisa the wife of Francesco del
Giocondo Mori died on the 15th of July
1542 just I think what I love about this
is this is truth now what could be more
true than the record of somebody's death
she was a real person she was a real
person and there's one other sentence in
this entry which my friend Pawlenty
didn't mention it says that she was
buried in Santa Ursula he told me that
but what he didn't say is this last
sentence told certain dual capital for
words she took with her the whole
capital what that means is that her body
was followed by the whole body of the
church of San Lorenzo so what is
conjured up by this is a very very grand
funeral and for this brief moment in
July 1542 she was a very very important
person in the life of the city everybody
in Florence would have
known that Mona Lisa had passed away
a spectacular funeral dozens of canons
chaplains and clerics the whole del
Giocondo
clan walking with Lisa's coffin
Francesco had died five years earlier
but he made sure he provided for all
this pomp and ceremony in his will where
she's described as his beloved faithful
life
Lisa del Giocondo was laid to rest in
the now ruined convent of Santa Ursula
beyond here we can't follow her though
we've learned a lot
Leonardo definitely knew Lisa definitely
painted her portrait
but if one riddles been answered there's
still another mystery to solve how could
we be certain that Leonardo's portrait
of Lisa and the portrait in the Louvre
are one of the same
[Music]
so what are the facts according to the
sorry Leonardo painted Lisa smiling in
Florence for speeches marginal notes
confirmed that it happened in 1503 the
picture in the Louvre shows a woman
smiling so far so good
but other things don't add up Vasari
describes eyebrows but the Louvre
portrait doesn't have eyebrows Vasari
tells us Leonardo painted Lisa for
Francesco del Giocondo
but Francesco never owned the portrait
we now call the Mona Lisa Leonardo had
it with him when he died most troubling
of all is an eyewitness account written
by a man called Antonio de Bay artists
he was actually shown the picture that's
now in the Louvre by Leonardo himself at
the end of his life Leonardo said he'd
been asked to paint this portrait not I
Francesco del Giocondo but by someone
completely different
a noble patron Giuliano de Medici it
simply doesn't make sense it's almost as
if we might be talking about different
paintings so I'm beginning to wonder
whether it's not possible Leonardo did
paint two versions of the same painting
on several occasions I'm beginning to
wonder if it's not possible that he did
indeed finish his portrait of the Mona
Lisa here in Florence but he did indeed
give it to Francesco del Giocondo and
that the portrait of Mona Lisa in Paris
is a second version is it possible that
there might be more than one Mona Lisa
the idea is not as strange as you might
think Leonardo did habitually revisit
the same subject more than once
[Music]
I've come to Singapore to see for the
first time a picture that might actually
be Leonardo's first version of the
painting
it's owned by an anonymous consortium of
businessmen and is currently locked away
deep in the bowels of a state-of-the-art
high-security storage facility so could
this be the first Mona Lisa I've come
7,000 miles to see you clammy
the backgrounds you might almost say
kind of roughing in but the face huh
face is really something she's younger
she's smiling things a lot to be said
for first impressions and the first
impression was I did well not to jump
backwards in in shock
it's too good in my opinion for any of
the other school of Leonardo painters
any dangerous things like this very
dangerous to say this is definitely
painted but they are not intervention
well I can't say that but I think it's
not beyond the realms of possibility
that this is the picture that Francesco
del Giocondo took and then the planar
dough goes off paints another picture
based on the memory of this picture and
that's the Mona Lisa we know in the
Louvre it's very teasing that small very
tease and this version of the Mona Lisa
first hit the headlines in 1914 British
art dealer Hugh Blaker bought it from a
private family collection and was
convinced he'd stumbled across an early
Leonardo he kept it in his eyes or Worth
studios and it became known as the
eyes'll worth Mona Lisa
one thing in its favor was its
similarity to this pencil sketch copy of
the Mona Lisa done in Florence in 1504
by Leonardo's contemporary Raphael which
seems to show how the painting looked in
its original state
yet after a century of supporters
detractors and different owners opinion
on the eyes'll worth painting is still
divided one man who is convinced that
Leonardo painted two Mona Lisa's his
jean-pierre is bounced he was so
impressed by the eyes'll worth portrait
he wrote a book about it so what would
lead you to think that the izalith
picture was indeed painted in 1503 what
is to say that it wasn't painted in 1553
well and I don't know about you but when
you talk about a copy usually a copy
tries to imitates the original this is
not a copy there are so many different
things about this particular Isleworth
version that do not appear in the Louvre
first lets me take one example the
columns the portrait is framed by two
robust Doric columns why do we know that
those columns existed in 1503 and not
later on because there is Raphael he
makes a sketch now what do we have on
both sides we have the columns that
appear in the owl Worth they do not
appear in the newer version let's talk
about the record written by debby artist
secretary to Cardinal Aragon who visited
Leonardo in 1516 which is seriously
puzzling which is seriously puzzling but
here is here we have an eyewitness
account here they are in the room with
Leonardo and he says yeah this this was
done at the request of Juliana vintage
instigate instigates Your Honor I think
what he was doing at this time is give
Juliana credit Giuliano bailed
Leonardo out when Leonardo wasn't
without the mentor panelists and that's
when Leonardo because of the patronage
and financial support of Giuliano finds
the time to create this new meditation
if you will the newer version so your
explanation would be well here we are
two different explanations but then
that's not so weird if you think there
are two different pictures exactly
jean-pierre firmly believes this could
be Leonardo's first Mona Lisa done for
husband Francesco but if so why would it
be unfinished well we know Leonardo was
slow and Francesco was impatient so
perhaps he just snatched it away from
Leonardo once his beloved Lisa's face
was complete a barrage of scientific
tests have been carried out on this
tantalizing picture the canvas was
carbon dated to around the right period
multiple tiny paint samples are
consistent with the paints Leonardo used
x-ray infrared and ultraviolet scans
have found nothing to disprove it as an
early Mona Lisa but that's the problem
all that conventional tests can do is
rule out a possible Leonardo what about
positive confirmation an eminent
scientist based in San Diego California
has been looking for a solution hello
good to see you and you dr. John Asmus
is a well respected nuclear physicist
and a pioneer in the analysis of
historic paintings
he's one of very few who've been allowed
to examine the Louvre Mona Lisa and
that's why the owners of the eyes'll
Worth Mona Lisa tracked him down
I started receiving phone calls from a
series of attorneys in Switzerland and
they wanted me to look at a painting and
finally they found that I was going to
be on a train from hell on to Geneva and
they asked me to get off the train in
Lausanne and take a look at their
painting and so they met me at the train
station and they pop tea on it of an
automobile and there was a Mona Lisa in
in the trunk and in the end the attorney
asked me do you think this model Lisa
was painted by Leonardo my exact words
were how would I know so I got out my
Instamatic camera and took a photograph
of the painting in the truck and it was
that image that I can then compared with
the loo on Lisa a few years ago dr.
Asmus developed a new test to
authenticate paintings by Rembrandt it
compares the subtle distribution of
light and shadow measured as histograms
to isolate an artist's unique way of
painting the artists every artist has
certain effects that he's trying to
accomplish and we use Rembrandt as a
test case and the results were rather
encouraging we came up with some general
rules as to how Rembrandt did his
blending and his selection of pigments
so I tried that that same technique on
the eyes of worth Mona Lisa had paid
comparing it with the movement Lisa and
I was I was stunned the correlation
between those two histograms was 99
percent stronger than it was between any
histograms of any of the Rembrandt's
self-portraits that we looked at how how
am I
this demonstrates that the technique for
blending light and shade in each face
appears uncannily similar John plans to
build a much bigger database of Leonardo
works with which to compare them his
results are impressive but there's
something still troubling me I would
love to believe that that softly
emerging face coming out of darkness
really is young one ELISA I'd love to
believe that but at the moment for me
it's that too good to be true syndrome
it's a little bit too good it's a
troubling when I look at that chart that
they've done of where they've taken the
paint samples from they've taken the
paint samples from everywhere except
that beguiling face which is the most
compelling part of the whole picture
it's the part that makes you think yes
this could be the young Mona Lisa I'm
just wondering whether it's possible
that some very skillful careful restorer
sometime before John asthma saw it in
the boost back car didn't just bring
that face up didn't just make whatever
ghost or trace or possibly a Mona Lisa
copy into something so much more
compelling to the modern eye to me not
to test that is it's like a detective
and his team coming to investigate the
scene of a crime the scene of a murder
and fingerprinting every square inch of
it but forgetting to take fingerprints
from the knife on the bed covered with
blood
I could be wrong
maybe Leonardo did paint this face in
1503 while Lisa sat in front of him but
until the face is tested doubt remains
and to me she just looks a bit too 20th
century
but I'm still convinced that Leonardo
did paint to Mona Lisa's if the eyes'll
worth painting isn't the earlier version
then it's either lost or still out there
somewhere and believe it or not now
there's a new lead the reported
discovery of another Mona Lisa in st.
Petersburg Russia
[Music]
this really is a plunge into the unknown
all we've been told is that a wealthy
Russian art collector identity a secret
recently acquired a painting that might
be the missing link to the mystery we
haven't yet been told where it is and
then at the last minute we're given an
address a place with a dubious past
[Music]
certainly strange this building was
created in the 19th century this room is
a recreation of an old Russian hunting
lodge it survives because the KGB made
it their headquarters during the
Communist years there she is
so what is this what is this all I know
about this picture is that it was
purchased by a Russian art collector
from a very old and established American
family who'd had it since the end of the
18th century and has hardly been seen
since and what's the status of this
picture smaller columns are more
complete than they are in the version in
the Louvre you can see they've got me
going I'm saying the version in the
Louvre the version in the Louvre the
Mona Lisa in the Louvre she's enigmatic
she's removed she's distant is she a
copy not sure
this picture looks tantalizingly close
to the picture in the Louvre so many
details are the same but is this
Leonardo's lost earlier version as with
the eyes'll worth picture scientific
tests have been done by dr. Chiara
metochi of the University of Bologna is
flown to Russia to share her results no
cigar diamo Sarala shainsa Adira a posse
amo
party a dollar a support this is a
radiocarbon testing of the canvas which
says a ninety five point four percent
probability that the canvas is between
fourteen ninety and sixteen seventy so
the canvas could well be correct
okay you know tacky new da chococheese
Vella meal possible improbable período
Nona tanto la te llama la lost righto
preparatory Oh del del dipinto Aldous
Oprah de la tigra VL a presence on the
ground
dianna preparation Rosa Rosa Rosa that's
the ground
well that's very clear tape it as far as
I understand it Leonardo da Vinci
himself worked on a classic Italian
Renaissance ground of white is that
right no Betsy the presence of a red
ground the very first layer of paint
seems to discount Leonardo's hand but
it's Clara's next discovery that really
changes the picture a chemical not used
before 1600 lnter Asante in a very
minuto de la preparación a la soupe a
totally inclusive is olfactory barrio
cheapo Irizarry ad un período molto
ristretto el período trap a millisecond
- venti
amid Seicento Oh
Lucilla's Eau de la barra Tina encuesta
preparation ii-era molto commune in
francesc questa è una trove physical
únicos aqui mica C in el área para Jeana
el período cabbie amo Equis abbiamo par
la tato Mercanti eye pigment e Aviva
Mesa punto una una un producto propio
specifically prepare a Sione in qui
boniva ajunta upon to bury Tina I think
Harrah's our own research we need to
know so the barium allows us to place
this canvas very precisely 60 and 20 to
60 and 80 and probably in Paris so all
the painters round Paris got this ground
from this one guy and put it on their
canvas so more and more that I talked to
you I feel no parla Italiano a opens ok
devil polonium franchisee allah-allah
Donna quad juicy juicy on Chantelle's
tack on a sauce Mona Lisa actuator 8 to
a solid for Caesar
so this Mona Lisa isn't a Leonardo but a
mid 17th century French copy in fact
there are dozens of copies it's a real
problem if you believe as I think you
have to given the conflicting evidence
that Leonardo did paint to Mona Lisa's
what we're looking for them is
Leonardo's image of young Lisa as
described by Vasari
as sketched by Raphael which must
predate the famous picture in the Louvre
so where can it be I still believe that
I can get to the bottom of the mystery
because there's one very strong lead
I haven't yet followed up one more
destination Paris
[Music]
[Music]
a scientist turned art detective claims
he can finally explain the discrepancies
he believes the secrets of the mona lisa
line not in other versions of the
portrait but inside the mona lisa itself
and he reckons he can prove it
Pascal Cotte is one of the world's
leading experts in the analysis of
paintings he's a man in Leonardo's own
image a self-taught physicist the
brilliant inventor of a new technique
that's unlocked the secrets of paintings
by Rubens Rembrandt Picasso and many
others his work on another Leonardo
painting the lady with an ermine
revealed earlier versions of the
composition hidden beneath its surface
that rewrote art history
but his great obsession is the Mona Lisa
faithfully reproduced here in his studio
in 2004 Pascal was invited by the Louvre
to scan the painting his task simply to
identify the pictures original colors
hidden beneath the discolorations of
time but Pascal's technique also
revealed that there was far more going
on beneath the surface for the last
decade he's worked in secret decoding
those discoveries and now he's ready to
share them so our goal is to build like
an onion all the layer of paint to
reconstruct the chronology of the
construction of the painting so as to
say this is a new technique absolutely
[Music]
Pascal's secret weapon is his
groundbreaking multispectral camera an
invention truly worthy of Leonardo 13
different wavelengths of color are
projected onto the picture each
penetrating the paint surface to a
different depth the camera captures the
reflections generating over three
billion bits of data and thousands of
images by analyzing each image shown in
black and white
Pascal can reveal a painting secrets
layer by layer
his first discovery in the Mona Lisa is
buried deep within the painting what we
discover we discover that the head was
bigger so you use your shadow yes also
be your head hmm you can see also that
the nose he's double here well so once
she had a larger head I discovered the
Sun much more bigger Pascal has pieced
together several previously unknown
details that lie beneath the Louvre
portrait as we know it marked in red
they seemed to be elements of a larger
first portrait that never got beyond a
draft stage but that's just the
beginning of Pascal's discoveries so now
we continue with one who's earlier yeah
yeah what on earth is that what is it
this is a hairpin like this one so you
found something that you found it with
that little bit of your magic light
camera you found the missing hairpin now
you know there is a hairpin you can see
it huh because you know but yes know
exactly how fascinating and more than
that if you look around ahead you
discover twelve happens the happens with
pearls make no sense on the first large
portrait
but Pascal has found something else that
appears to be connected to them tiny
rows of dots known as spur very they
seem to suggest an elaborate headdress
intriguingly a type of headdress that as
far as we know was only ever shown on
the heads of saints or Madonna's this is
a painting of her headdress that have
nothing to do with matanza nothing to do
nothing to do with the spoiler very
hidden inside the Mona Lisa have never
been seen before that concrete proof of
the way Leonardo constructed a picture
he would have begun with a preparatory
drawing marked the lines on tracing
paper with a sharp point then
transferred those outlines onto the wood
with coal dust but what happened to the
headdress Pascal's next piece of
evidence suggests it was deliberately
removed so now I discover this Hachi
this is another yeah of the onion so
this is layer with this rubber yes you
see it's totally different from the
cracks so crackle ooh you see this is
clearly to erase what is beyond it's
very important because that explains how
Luna dough from one stage go to another
stage
Pascal's scans a crucial evidence of the
way Leonardo worked building up a
painting stage-by-stage above the
scratchings Pascal reveals the first
impression of yet another layer the
ghostly imprint of a face like a
Leonardo Turin Shroud is that another
head yes how many heads is that so far
and this is no number free so the big
heads they became tubs all has her hand
remembers another head yes
now so high so it's a wonderful proof I
discovered two crosses just here and
these classes do not match with mine an
exact glance no no the crosses clearly
mark a different set of pupils looking
in a different direction
the face behind when ELISA the face is
turn 14 degrees in the right direction
so there she is
looking like that so she should be like
that yeah more like that
also I brought good as a serious because
this is an important point because
Vasari says specifically you know that
the eyebrows abusive he painted yes nice
for us we see her doesn't have eyebrows
so have you felt can see it yeah so
there are the eyebrows and here you have
another mouse look at this mouth nothing
to do with Mona Lisa absolutely amazing
she's barely smiling
do you see because she turns the head on
the left the mouse is little smaller
quite a lot smaller so Pascal you've
found a complete face
yes inside inside the Mona Lisa yes wow
that's quite a big discoveries it yes it
is yes yes it is
Pascal's work has revealed for the first
time in 500 years a detailed earlier
portrait by Leonardo da Vinci it's the
same size as the face we see now but
turned by 14 degrees there's clear
evidence of a different swept back
hairstyle elaborate ties at the top of
an earlier sleeve are clearly visible
there's even a suggestion that she once
held a blanket in her mouth
is this the cultures of Lisa I've been
looking for
so throughout my journey I thought well
it seems it seems as though they're
talking about two different pictures you
seem to be saying to me yes there are
too many losses but they happen to be on
the same piece of wood yes so this must
surely be Lisa del Giocondo of course
Francesca's wife I agree with you it's
this is a real portrait of mrs. Iza
garden
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Pascal's pioneering work marks an
extraordinary moment in the history of
art by piecing together all the details
then decoding the data to identify the
original pigments used by Leonardo
Pascal has been able to construct a
digital photo fit of the image it's a
perfect match with the historical record
but if this computer image represents
the original portrait of Mona Lisa it's
a portrait her husband never received
instead Leonardo went on to paint the
world's most famous picture over the top
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so there were two Mona Lisa's all along
but how do we make sense of these
discoveries and what are we now to make
of Leonardo's masterpiece
in search of the final piece to the
puzzle our meeting a woman who spent
years reconstructing the scene of that
day back in 1503 when Leonardo started
to paint Lisa
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leading expert on Renaissance hairstyles
and costumes
Elisabetta nini era has based her work
closely on Pascal's findings every
Renaissance fashion can be precisely
pinpointed whether to Rome in 1512 or
Florence in 1503 so by recreating the
costume
Pascal found in the painting beneath the
painting Elisabetta can place and dated
very precisely her results are a
revelation
looking as the fashions shown it is
other contemporary portraits is that it
perfectly fits with the historical image
of a wealthy Florentine lady of the very
early years of 16th century I cannot see
any inconsistencies so this must be Lisa
del Giocondo
as Raphael painted her yes this is very
close the closes version we know to the
rough and sketch it's like a Polaroid
it's like a Polaroid yeah Raphael have
actually seen Leonardo's portrait of
Lisa when he drew this copy in 1504
apart from one slight difference the
veil over the bodice it's identical to
elisabetta's reconstruction and Pascal's
photo fit it's compelling evidence that
Pascal has indeed found the first
version Leonardo's original Lisa lurking
beneath the finished work but where does
all this leave the picture we see today
so there's a better when you look at the
Mona Lisa in the Louvre as she is now
from the point of view of costume what
do you see to me she's not a real person
because there are so many details of
which ago innocence hmm can you give me
an example yes the long hair worn on her
shoulder
this wouldn't be conceivable unless you
had the very high ranks or it was a
posthumous portrait what about this
source of sash of drapery that comes
over the twist yeah this is the most
interesting element in Louvre of
Gioconda because a Greek arobin's
classical art devoted such a detail only
on one shoulder only to Venus Venus and
virtuous like purity chastity faith so
that that beautiful
of drapery that seems to continue the
flow of the river in the landscape
behind that is not same thing that a
real woman would've wore it's more like
an attribute of a goddess yes
so the Louvre painting shows an
idealized woman maybe a posthumous
portrait surely then she can no longer
be Mona Lisa
because Mona Lisa outlived Leonardo Wow
now for Elisabetta the moment of truth
as the results of years of research and
hard work finally come together we can
at last see how Lisa del Giocondo the
original Mona Lisa might have looked
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so Elisabetta you have made the sleeves
yep
Pascale found and this is the line
you've recreated the it's been an
elaborate process but it leads to a
genuine insight into Leonardo's
obsessive relationship with this
painting the key is in the colours which
have been exactly matched to Pascal's
calculations the dress for the bodies he
found a greenish gray pigment and also
this leaves
we know how Lonardo would call this
color which was called Leonato that is
the colors of the Lions for Leonardo
calendar I never knew I never knew that
but you know what it makes me think it
makes me think when you say that that
this is this is Leonardo because of
course it didn't sign pictures but this
is Leonardo's way of signing the
painting exactly that's great the color
Leon out or and the knot pattern Vince
sherry yeah
Leonardo da Vinci yeah it could be now
we're not joking I I agree with you
totally yeah exactly
because
fourme the presence of a hidden
signature would answer a nagging
question why didn't he finish his first
version and give it to Francesca
knotting his name into her bodice it's
like an act of possession as if Leonardo
knew this was always destined to be more
than a portrait
no one's painting but his own if we go
one two three quality code Trey you look
at me the way
our investigation has revealed for the
first time what Leonardo's hidden
earlier portrait might have looked like
the portrait surely of the Florentine
merchants wife Lisa del Giocondo we
found a solution to the historic
inconsistencies that have long baffled
experts and it seems we've discovered
that the portrait in the Louvre may not
be the Mona Lisa after all so we're left
with the million-dollar question who is
she
the one piece of evidence that still
stands out is the eyewitness account of
debate artists who had it from Leonardo
himself that the woman we now see was
painted at the behest of Giuliano de
Medici
so who replaced Mona Lisa in Leonardo's
painting did Giuliano commissioned a
posthumous portrait perhaps of a lost
love idealized like a goddess for me
there's only one candidate a woman with
whom Giuliano had a brief passionate
affair
a woman who tragically died giving birth
to their son a little boy who was still
calling for her when Giuliano
commissioned the picture
her name was Pacifica Brandon Oh
could this be her
you
it's a romantic notion but just as
Leonardo never gave the picture to
Francesca he never gave it to Giuliano
either instead he kept the image of the
woman he'd signed in code and made her
more his own than ever at the end of
Leonardo's life the Mona Lisa this
shape-shifting picture that had begun as
the portrait of one woman and then
metamorphosed into another became
something else again namely a work about
the transcended portraiture and turned
into an expression of all his knowledge
all his philosophy the paintings like a
shimmering mosaic in which Leonardo has
pieced together all that he knows about
nature and about human nature and I
think the key to it is that famous smile
Leonardo's way of saying that while we
might strive to understand this vast
cosmos that surrounds us in the end it's
our destiny to pass through life as
swiftly as the smile that flickers
across a human face so the Mona Lisa
really isn't Mona Lisa after all but
something much more than that it's a
painting of life itself as Leonardo had
come to think of it his way of painting
us all
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coming up on bbc2 Ruth Jones and Romesh
Ranganathan joined Jack Dee for the
apprentice you're fired
next
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