Editing Mona Lisa (section)

=== Modern analysis ===
In the early 21st century, French scientist Pascal Cotte hypothesized a hidden portrait underneath the surface of the painting. He analysed the painting in the Louvre with reflective light technology beginning in 2004, and produced [[circumstantial evidence]] for his theory.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|date=8 December 2015|title=Hidden portrait 'found under Mona Lisa', says French scientist|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35031997|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208131512/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35031997|archive-date=8 December 2015|access-date=8 December 2015|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Cotte">{{cite book|last=Cotte|first=Pascal|title=Lumiere on the Mona Lisa: Hidden portraits|date=2015|publisher=Vinci Editions|isbn=978-2-9548-2584-7|location=Paris}}</ref><ref name="Apollo">{{cite journal|last=McAloon|first=Jonathan|date=10 December 2015|title=The Missing Mona Lisa|url=http://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-missing-mona-lisa/|url-status=live|journal=[[Apollo (magazine)|Apollo]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215033419/http://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-missing-mona-lisa/|archive-date=15 December 2015}}</ref> Cotte admits that his investigation was carried out only in support of his hypotheses and should not be considered as definitive proof.<ref name="Cotte" /><ref name="Kemp Pallanti" /> The underlying portrait appears to be of a sitter looking to the side, and lacks flanking columns,<ref>{{cite magazine|date=8 December 2015|title=Secret Portrait Hidden Under Mona Lisa, Claims French Scientist|url=http://europe.newsweek.com/secret-portrait-hidden-under-mona-lisa-claims-french-scientist-402422?rm=eu|magazine=Newsweek|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208232213/http://europe.newsweek.com/secret-portrait-hidden-under-mona-lisa-claims-french-scientist-402422?rm=eu|archive-date=8 December 2015|access-date=8 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> but it does not fit with historical descriptions of the painting. Both Vasari and [[Gian Paolo Lomazzo]] describe the subject as smiling,<ref name="Vasari" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Lomazzo|first=Gian Paolo|title=Treatise on the art of painting|date=1584|location=Milan}}</ref> unlike the subject in Cotte's supposed portrait.<ref name="Cotte" /><ref name="Kemp Pallanti" /> In 2020, Cotte published a study alleging that the painting has an [[underdrawing]], transferred from a preparatory drawing via the [[Pouncing|''spolvero'']] technique.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cotte|first1=Pascal|last2=Simonot|first2=Lionel|date=1 September 2020|title=Mona Lisa's spolvero revealed|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1296207420304362|journal=Journal of Cultural Heritage|language=en|volume=45|pages=1–9|doi=10.1016/j.culher.2020.08.004|s2cid=225304838|issn=1296-2074}}</ref>