Hidden Sketches Uncovered in Da Vinci Painting

#. Hidden Sketches Uncovered in Da Vinci Painting

 

Painted in 1483, "The Virgin of the Rocks" is considered an early masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.

Recently, a team of scientists in London uncovered a secret hidden in this famous painting.

The painting is part of the collection at the National Gallery in London.

It depicts the Virgin Mary seated with two infants, while an angel hovers above.

Scientists, however, learned there was an earlier sketch by the Renaissance master buried underneath the finished painting.

They used modern technology to reveal these renderings.

In August 2019, they used infrared light on the painting and found a sketch of a different Virgin Mary.

The figure was located in the upper part of the frame.

Then in February of this year, the scientists were excited to find yet another image hiding beneath the surface.

This time, it was a winged baby Jesus, which cannot be seen in the completed work.

The latest discovery was made because the scientists knew da Vinci's hidden stetch contained the chemical element zinc.

So, they decided to try a special X-ray technique used to study old paintings.

The special X-ray caused the zinc and some other chemical elements in the paint to vibrate, and afterwards, the entire painting was scanned.

A sophisticated computer program was then developed to interpret the huge amounts of data and uncover the hidden figure.

"It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, " said one of the London professors involved in the project.

"But it's such a great feeling to see the wings and head finally uncovered.

 

• uncover ʌnˈkʌvə 덮개를 벗기다, 뚜껑을 열다 , (비밀 등을) 알아내다 [적발하다] 

• virgin |vɜːrdʒɪn 숫처녀[총각], 동정녀[남] , 성모 마리아 / 원래 [자연] 그대로의, 처녀의

• masterpiece |mæstərpiːs 걸작, 명작, 일품 

• depict dɪˈpɪkt (그림으로) 그리다 , (말이나 그림으로) 묘사하다 [그리다]

• bury ˈberi (시신을) 묻다 [매장하다]  buried 파묻힌

• underneath |ʌndər│niːθ … 의 밑[아래/안]에(특히 다른 것에 가려지거나 덮이는 경우에 씀) , 밑면, 하부, 속으로 [내심]

• render ˈrendə (어떤 상태가 되게) 만들다 [하다] (=make), 제시[제출]하다 (=furnish) rendering ˈrendərɪŋ  (특정한 해석을 가미한) 연주[연기] , 랜더링

• infrared ˌɪnfrəˈred 적외선의 (→ultraviolet)  infrared rays 적외선

• figure ˈfɪɡjər  수치 , 숫자 (→double figures, single figures) , 인물[모습], 그림 / 중요하다 [중요한 부분이다] (=feature)

• frame freɪm 틀[액자] / 틀[액자]에 넣다, 테를 두르다

• beneath bɪˈniːθ 아래[밑]에, (수준 등이) … 보다 못한  zinc zɪŋk  Zn 아연(금속 원소)

• wing wɪŋ 날개 / (어디로) 날아가다 winged wɪŋd 날개가 있는, 날개 달린 (↔wingless)

• afterwards ˈæftərwərdz 나중에, 그 뒤에    haystack ˈheɪstæk  건초 더미

• sophisticate səˈfɪstɪkeɪt 세련된 [교양 있는] 사람  sophisticated səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd 세련된, 교양 있는 (→naive) , 지적인, 수준 높은 (↔unsophisticated)

• involve ɪnˈvɑːlv 참여시키다, 관련[연루]시키다, 수반[포함]하다 (=entail)    involved ɪnˈvɑːlvd  관여하는, 관련된, 연루된