After nearly 500 years, scientists have discovered the secret hidden under Leonardo da Vinci's painting

"Virgin of the rocks" is one of the ten most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci - the Italian genius.

The picture depicts the Virgin Mary, the bronze God, Saint John and an angel. The painting consists of two versions, one drawn in 1483 on display in the Louvre in Paris, and one in 1508, hung at the National Gallery in London.

Original 1483 "Virgin of the rocks" (left) and 1508 copy (left)

More than 500 after the 1508 picture (supposedly a copy of version 1483), the researchers studied how to recover the work and accidentally discovered a mystery: There is another sketch currently located. underneath the oil paint.

Analysis by infrared projection showed that before Leonardo completed the famous "Virgin of the rocks" for centuries, he sketched a picture, but left it later.

Experts discovered a hidden sketch under version 1508

The painting also seems to draw Mother, the Bronze Princess and an angel, but the position of the characters in the sketch is higher than "Virgin of the Rocks" we still see.

The scanned sketch shows that it has a composition and the original detail differs from the work we see today

" In the layout of the unfinished sketch, both of the main characters are placed in a higher position, while the angel turns out, the gaze bends down to look at the comedic God and seems to embrace him more closely," - London National Gallery described.

"These images were discovered because the substance used to paint them contained zinc, so it could be illuminated and displayed on the X-ray fluorescent map (MA-XRF)" - they explained.

The sketch is illuminated and displayed on the map of X-ray fluorescence

The discovery comes as experts at the gallery announce a new exhibition titled "Leonardo: Experience a Masterpiece" that will take place in November.

They are still studying more about the sketch. However, the reason why the painting threatens to leave the painting is still a mystery.

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