Nude figure hidden in Leonardo da Vinci's notebook

The mysterious figure was found in Leonardo da Vinci's notebook, raising doubts about the cause of the painting being erased.

The International Business Times reported yesterday that experts at the British Library in London discovered the painting using a multi-spectral image, showing details that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

The Codex Arundel 263 is one of many da Vinci's handbooks. Throughout his career, he left more than 7,000 record pages. This book contains pages written over many years, mostly from 1508.

The topics recorded in the book include the mechanics, astronomy, architecture and flight motion of birds. It shows most of da Vinci's ideas and inventions arise thanks to outdoor observations.

The blurry human figure is revealed through scanned images.(Photo: British Library).

Researchers are particularly interested in a discolored corner of the note page. This book is illuminated under light of different wavelengths, from ultraviolet rays to near infrared. Light filters are also used to take photos of fluorescence, revealing a hidden picture on a page that looks like a naked man.

"The photos raise interesting questions about the cause of the drawing and were later erased," said Christina Duffy, conservation scientist at the British Library.

Some say that this figure shows da Vinci's jealousy towards Michelangelo, the same-time celebrity he disliked. Biographer Giorgio Vasari said that the two had a public debate in Florence, Italy, when discussing Dante. Michelangelo also remarked that Leonardo's drawing was "not better than my maid."

"It's a humanoid figure like Michelangelo's famous David sculpture, but more muscular," argues Martin Kemp, emeritus professor of art history at Oxford University, England. "Da Vinci can simply carry out this drawing by memory and then delete it, because he doesn't want people to think he admires Michelangelo."

Duffy said the team will scan other pages of the handbook to find hidden images.