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Saturday, November 14, 2009 Someone alert Dan Brown. The novelist's best-selling "The Da Vinci Code" contained many conjectures about the history and provenance of the "Mona Lisa" -- many of which have been dismissed as pure nonsense by scholars and religious figures.Now comes word that at least one persistent rumor concerning the masterpiece is true. Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" used to have eyebrows, according to a French art expert.Pascal Cotte was granted special access to the 16th-century painting at the Louvre Museum in Paris, according to a report in the London Telegraph. Cotte said Da Vinci built up the painting in layers, the last being a special glaze. He then painted details such as the eyebrows on top of the glaze."That could explain why the eyebrows have disappeared," he told the British newspaper. "They have faded because of chemical reactions or they have been cleaned off." Using a 240 megapixel camera, Cotte ...

Thursday, October 29, 2009 LONDON: The world record-breaking attempt to produce the largest ever reproduction of the Mona Lisa went on display at Eagles Meadow shopping centre in Wrexham, Wales on Wednesday 28th October. Members from the entire community have come together to create their own version of the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting that covers a massive 240 square metres: that’s the size of 24 double-decker buses! Hundreds of people were involved, including school children from Victoria Primary School and members of the Haulfan Centre, which offers a wide range of activities for people with disabilities, have given hours of their time to help artist Katy Webster complete the mammoth task. The work will be on show at Eagles Meadow for one day only. Shoppers will not only have the chance to scrutinise every detail of Mona Lisa’s famous expression up close, but will also be able to touch the giant piece, made up of 82 different vinyl squares. Hope House, a charity that provides ...