mona

Her face emerges from the shadow
areas of her hair and veil and her
hands appear from the vague yet
detailed folds of the sleeves of her
dress. The shadowed areas at the
corners of her eyes and mouth are
faintly blurred. Looking at the subject
one may notice that the right corner
of her mouth seems to lift up slightly
and the left side her mouth does not.
She looks serene and comfortable
sitting for Leonardo.

During the past several years of
research contemplating and
studying Leonardo's extensive
writings in his manuscripts (codices)
on Light and Shade, theory of Colors
and the perspective of Colors, what
comes to light is that within the Mona
Lisa may very well be the name of
the subject of his most treasured
painting deftly hidden within the
detailed folds of her sleeve,
Leonardo may have secretly and
discreetly painted her name, his
chosen name for her.

A careful review of her right sleeve
under magnification reveals the
possible existence of an extreme
subtlety only Leonardo could create
with interplay of light and shade. The
name....Mary appears to emerge from
the gathered folds of her sleeve. The
technique Leonardo used is in fact
an optical illusion.

The optical illusion, the fold of a
sleeve of her dress spelling out the
name MARY, perhaps the name
Leonardo had in mind for the most
famous painting in the world.