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Mona Lisa: A scientific study that was heard round the world

On September 26, 2006 NRC in collaboration with the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF) announced the completion of the most important scientific study ever done of Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of the Mona Lisa. In the days following, National Research Council of Canada (NRC) presented a series of events for media, key stakeholders, and the general public on the results of NRC-Institute for Information Technology’s(NRC-IIT’s) 3D examination of Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th Century masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, arguably the most famous painting in the world. The announcement attracted world-wide media attention to NRC on a scale not seen since the launch of the Canadarm, which resulted in unprecedented success in publicizing the NRC’s excellence in scientific achievement.

‘’Among other cutting-edge technologies, the scientists used a newly developed Canadian laser camera to construct an extremely detailed three-dimensional model of the painting. … The 3-D scanner is a variation on equipment used by American astronauts earlier this month to check the space shuttle for damage before it returned to Earth. The Canadian research council, which has worked with museums around the world since the 1980’s and with the French for a decade, developed a model able to resolve fine details in artworks at the limit of known optical technologies.’’

New Look at Mona Lisa’ Yields Some New Secrets,Ian Austen, The New York Times September 27 2006

The Mona Lisa Project: Combining latest developments in 3D scanning and new software 3D modeling tools

In the fall of 2004, as part of ongoing research collaboration, C2RMF invited a team of Canadian 3D scientists from NRC-IIT to participate in a detailed scientific examination of the Mona Lisa. A 3D color laser scanner designed and built by NRC was brought to Paris to scan the complete painting - obverse and reverse. The scanner is capable of scanning 3D images at a depth resolution of 10 micro-meters, or about 1/10 the diameter of a human hair. The 3D model was used to document and precisely measure the shape of the wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted, to examine features of the composition and the craquelure in the paint layer, and to help the study of both the painting's state of conservation and da Vinci's technique, in particular his sfumato.

NRC's 3D technology, as well as its expertise, became internationally recognized by the museum and heritage communities alike. During the past 20 years, the NRC has collaborated with Canadian and international museums on the development of 3D technology for a wide range of museum and heritage recording applications. "Collaborations and partnerships like this one are an important part of the way we do business at NRC. It is how NRC envisions Canada competing effectively in our global knowledge economy." said Pierre Coulombe, President of the NRC.

The press conference was an overwhelming success, attended by over 50 reporters and crewmembers representing over 20 different media outlets, and the announcement attracted world-wide media attention to the NRC, which resulted in unprecedented success in publicizing the NRC’s excellence in scientific achievement.

The impact of the announcement resulted in the most far-reaching and positive media exposure for NRC in a number of years, and the best-ever for the NRC- IIT.

Clipping services found a total of over 120 print articles, television, radio and internet spots referencing NRC.
The story was covered by outlets all around the world, including papers in Australia, Istanbul, Colombia, Brazil, Korea, Japan, South Africa, Spain, etc. On September 25^th, Reuters – the world's largest international multimedia news agency – led with “Scientists to unveil secrets of Mona Lisa” and followed with “Fragile Mona Lisa painting in good shape: study” on the day of the press conference.
The Mona Lisa story received front page coverage in the Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Journal, the Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun, and The Gazette. It appeared on the front of the Art and Design Section of the New York Times.
A Google search performed on October 16, 2006 for the key words “Mona Lisa“ + “NRC” resulted in 51,300 hits.
The NRC Mona Lisa story was the top Canadian story on Google.ca for three consecutive days, and the top Science and Technology story on Google.com.
Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade featured a link to the NRC Mona Lisa project on the front page of its own website as an example of an excellent Canadian achievement.
During Mona Lisa Week, there was an increase in traffic to the NRC website of 342% from the previous week.
The 3D scan of the Mona Lisa results appeared in Au coeur de La Joconde published by Éditions Gallimard.

NRC was widely credited with all findings resulting from the Mona Lisa project study. For instance, all photos and videos appeared with the NRC wordmark. Furthermore, the promotional effort provided NRC with resourceful contacts, building on and expanding established networks never achieved before. In addition, suite of visuals and supporting material (posters, bookmarks, advertisements, media kits, Web site) were recognized as being some of the best PR products seen at NRC.

Recent major research developments concerning 3D scanning technologies include ultra-high resolution recording, artefacts and color corrections combined with new software algorithms and tools for the modeling of very large 3D models and new software tools from our industrial partners (licenses). Detailed experimental analysis using the 3D model of Mona Lisa have confirmed the benefits of 3D analysis from detailed shape information of precious objects; they have also revealed unsuspected new optical properties of 3D imaging that allow in-depth analysis of paint layers and materials surface measurements at the micro-meters level as well as measurements of the thickness of transparent varnish on the painting and related physical properties of materials. Added to the scientific discoveries, a direct result of this study has been the corroboration of key historical findings about Leonardo’s most famous work.

In addition to scanning valuable works of art, NRC's 3D technology has a range of other applications in the industrial, medical, space, forensic and entertainment sectors and been licensed to several Canadian companies with considerable success. Licensees have worked with major Hollywood movie studios, NASA, and car manufacturers such as Honda, Ford, and Rolls Royce.