Mona Lisa's eyes reveal letters & numbers

[Still Waters]

Art historians are probing a real-life Da Vinci Code style mystery after discovering tiny numbers and letters painted into the eyes of the artist's enigmatic Mona Lisa painting.

Leonardo Da Vinci's 500-year-old Renaissance masterpiece has long been steeped in mystery with even today, the true identity of the woman with the alluring smile still far from certain.

The painting also featured in the Dan Brown blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, which was turned into a 2006 film starring Tom Hanks, in which his character interprets secret messages hidden in the Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's other works including The Last Supper.

Now members of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage have revealed that by magnifying high resolution images of the Mona Lisa's eyes letters and numbers can be seen.

Today Silvano Vinceti, president of the Committee, said: 'To the naked the symbols are not visible but with a magnifying glass they can clearly be seen.

'In the right eye appear to be the letters LV which could well stand for his name Leonardo Da Vinci while in the left eye there are also symbols but they are not as defined.

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[Andami]

Wow, now that's interesting. I wonder what the scientists will discern from these symbols.

[Mentalcase]

Searched for magnified pics but, to no avail.

[Belial]

You will need an x ray camera.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

better be careful about x-raying the Mona Lisa, it'd be terrible to discover the words "this is a fake" written in felt tip underneath

[JGirl]

mona lisa's alluring smile? uh, i'm not seeing it. she's a homely thing with a smirk.

as for the letters and symbols - interesting, but i don't see how it's all that big a deal.

[Francisco Fidalgo]

I don't get why mankind is so mesmerized by this painting honestly...

[shaka5]

I don't get why mankind is so mesmerized by this painting honestly...

THANK YOU!!!!!!....this is the most overrated thing in history to me. I seriously don't get it, i've heard arguments about why people like it and still don't see it. Say what you will, this is not worth so much hype...She looks like Balki Bartokomous from "Perfect Strangers"

HA!

[xXHellkittiesXx]

It doesn't mean anything, artists often make notes and such on there works to ensure it comes out perfectly. I do it myself.

[xXHellkittiesXx]

Side note: I wish this site had a "Like" or "Thumbs Up" button for other peoples comments.

[Prab]

I don't get why mankind is so mesmerized by this painting honestly...

Seriously I also thought this several times!

But the funny thing is that after so many digital scanning and x-ray scanning and all types of other scanning and even after resolution enhancing techniques finally they noticed something in her eye,LOL!

I thought that till now they must have checked this painting that they love pixel by pixel and would have taken out every bit of information.

This is astonishing that they just saw the numbers now by simply waving a magnifying glass over the painting.

LoL!

This is so ignorant of them!!

[Mike G]

I don't get why mankind is so mesmerized by this painting honestly...

It is a very unconventional looking piece given the period and place it was created.

Or something.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Mike G

[Boe]

mona lisa's alluring smile? uh, i'm not seeing it. she's a homely thing with a smirk.

as for the letters and symbols - interesting, but i don't see how it's all that big a deal.

Yeh but it's an 'I know something you don't know' smirk.

And now the answer to life and everything is coded in her eyes. Jeez, dont you know anything?

[pickletoes]

THANK YOU!!!!!!....this is the most overrated thing in history to me. I seriously don't get it, i've heard arguments about why people like it and still don't see it. Say what you will, this is not worth so much hype...She looks like Balki Bartokomous from "Perfect Strangers"

HA!

That is soo funny

[pickletoes]

Side note: I wish this site had a "Like" or "Thumbs Up" button for other peoples comments.

me too!

[JGirl]

Yeh but it's an 'I know something you don't know' smirk.

And now the answer to life and everything is coded in her eyes. Jeez, dont you know anything?

lol yeah looks more like she has a load in her pants to me!

and yeah i know some stuff...for instance, i know that if i don't get those science projects out of my fridge they will take over the world and it will be all my fault.

[Boe]

lol yeah looks more like she has a load in her pants to me!

I just spit my drink on my desk. ROFL

[ShadowSot]

The secret is revealed! The Mona Lisa was a paint by numbers!

[shaka5]

The secret is revealed! The Mona Lisa was a paint by numbers!

lol...the secret was that she knew this crap of a painting would be praised throughout the existence of mankind.

[johnny blue eyes]

wow! just looked at the artex on my ceiling and spotted the letters b s and the number 8, the plasterer must have left a secret code on there. amazing

[rashore]

perhaps her eyes merely contain the signature.. artist mark in one eye, date of the painting in the other?

[booNyzarC]

The secret is revealed! The Mona Lisa was a paint by numbers!

That explains so much.

[zenfahr]

Those letters they found in the eye could have easily been seen by any body who just looked close. And the letters stick out. Something smells very fishy about this story.

[+DieChecker]

The pic in the link seems to have some letters, but they also look like they could have been just whorls in the eye's iris. I bet if someone was to take a loose approach as to what is a letter, you could find letters everywhere on just about any oil painting. The article says the right eye has a L and a V, which I agree could be initials, but they don't even publish a guess at what the "letters" are in the left eye.

[SilverCougar]

"If you can read this, you're too close."