Mona Lisa Has No Eyebrows

One of the most unsettling features of Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait is the subject's apparent lack of eyebrows and eyelashes. For centuries, this was often attributed to a Renaissance-era fashion trend where high-born Florentine women would pluck their facial hair for a bare, high-domed forehead. This popular theory suggested that the Mona Lisa was simply an accurate reflection of the beauty (Review) standards of her time in early 16th-century Florence.

However, modern technology has revealed a different story. In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte used a high-intensity, multi-spectral camera to analyze the painting. His scans penetrated the layers of aged varnish and discovered that Leonardo had, in fact, painted both eyebrows and eyelashes. The faint traces he found suggest the delicate hairs were likely casualties of time and numerous cleaning and restoration attempts over 500 years, with solvents and rubbing gradually wearing them away.

This discovery aligns with Leonardo's meticulous, layer-based painting technique. The eyebrows and lashes would have been among the final, most delicate glazes applied to the portrait. As the most superficial layers of paint, they were also the most vulnerable. So, while her enigmatic smile remains a mystery, the case of her missing eyebrows has been scientifically closed.