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Unforgettable smile

Photo: AP

The secret: To smile or not to smile.

For nearly 500 years, people have gazed at Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Mona Lisa with a sense of bafflement — first she is smiling, then the smile fades; a moment later it returns, only to disappear again. Now, scientists claim to have uncovered the secret of how Leonardo produced the optical effects that created Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile. A team in Europe has found that the artist managed to achieve his trademark smoky effect, known as “sfumato”, on the painting by applying up to 40 layers of extremely thin glaze, thought to have been smeared on with his fingers.

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