Leonardo da Vinci’s Work Seen in New Light

 

A French scientist has made an interesting discovery about Leonardo da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine.” Using a scanning technique called layer amplification method (LAM), scientists and art historians can view and analyze what happens between layers of paint. It is now possible to see that Leonardo originally painted the portrait without the animal, then added it, but with different fur. Pascale Cotte, who developed the technique said, “The LAM technique gives us the capability to peel the painting like an onion, removing the surface to see what’s happening inside and behind the different layers of paint,” he told BBC News. “We’ve discovered that Leonardo is always changing his mind. This is someone who hesitates – he erases things, he adds things, he changes his mind again and again.”

More information can be found in an article posted by the Guardian.