X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy unveils Da Vinci`s astounding sfumato technique

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - 04:42 in Physics & Chemistry

Mona Lisa`s mystical smile still puts viewers under a spell. Leonardo Da Vinci attained the perfection and finesse of his paintings with a technique he himself perfected. This technique is called sfumato (from the Italian for `foggy`). In this method, several layers of color are applied over each other. The colors meld together and lend the face a mysterious glow. Philippe Walter and his team at the Louvre in Paris have now examined the faces of seven paintings signed by the master with a new non-invasive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy technique. As the scientists report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, Mona Lisa`s secret lies in many whisper-thin layers of a transparent glaze.

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