The Painting You Don't See Under Mona Lisa In The Louvre in Paris

The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo Da Vinci, in the Louvre, Paris, France - hiding a secret. 

The Mona Lisa is famous for her enigmatic smile. Why was she smiling? Is becuase she knows her portrait is being pianted over another face?

Problems
Who is the woman - or man - in the Mona Lisa?
What are the paintings underneath?
Can we prove it?
How do they see paintings underneath?
How many more paintings are under famous paintings?
How does this help you and me and our local art class?

Why would anybody paint over a painting? It's quite common.
1 An amateur does not like his or her first attempt and being ashamed of the painting or just disappointed thinks a better painting of the same subject, or a new subject is today's inspiration, wants to conceal it, and short of money, re-uses the canvas.
2 A professional painter does a painting and whoever is paying the painting wants to change the whole thing, or add somebody, or remove somebody
3 You can paint over as a trompe l'oeil. Turn the woman's body into a mountain. This has been deliberately simply as a trompe l'oeil, or in the case of a Picasso painting, to re-use the canvas without having to repaint or having the underpainting show through.

Which Paintings Have Underpaintings
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, Louvre, Paris, France.
Picasso. Crouching Woman.
The Bronte sister painted by their brother, National Portrait Gallery, London, England.
Goya, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Art
 - a very popular classic painting.
She was a high-class lady whose husband was a wealthy man who could afford to have her painted by a renowned painter.

We know a rich family, a named man, a silk merchant in Florence, Italy, yes, a silk merchant, whose wife, Lisa Gherardini, could be the one in the painting.

Popular
Various theories, verging on conspiracy theories, have been put forward over the years about the Mona Lisa.

Science
Her body (the lady named Lisa who was supposed to have been painted) has now been found in a church - with the possibility that forensic reconstruction of her face could fit the picture in the painting.
The painting underneath shows somebody else. What does this mean?

Social and Psychology
Her smile reveals a relationship with the painter.

Alternative theory:
Social and Psychology
She was the boyfriend and model for the gay painter. (Two assumptions in this sentence, one about the painter and one about the model. I just thought of the third implication. That the male model was dressing as a woman, either because male buyers like to look at women or because the model was a younger man who liked to dress up as a woman to please the older male painter.
The suppressed smile reveals their current relationship.

Truth and Censorship
As you get further and further into this, you think is this suitable for a family publication and art gallery. Then it becomes politically correct for everybody to be gay and it's legal and children in some countries are supposed to accept the legal situation while others with access to the net have a different legal system or are reading in another era.
All this, at first sight, seems mere speculation, either to further a political agenda, or sell a book, or simply another of many possibilities, your choice as a reader to pick your favourite.

Science
Now, along comes science to settle the matter, and provide more interest in the paintings chosen for analysis, for gallery owners, researchers, writers, and the viewing public, whether paying to enter an art gallery, go in to free days, or read in the newspapers before planning potential visits.

Where can I see these paintings?
Please check which paintings are on show, where, on the day you are are visiting. Also check when the gallery is open. Also check prices. The painting you want might be in the exhibition for which there is a charge. It might be in a separate area for which there is no charge.
I read the BBC article three times. The first time I thought the Mona Lisa was still in Paris.
 The second time I thought the painting was on tour and in China.
The third time I thought the painting was still in the Louvre but the X-ray type analysis was on tour.

Where To See Paintings And Discuss Analysis
Mona Lisa, Louvre, Paris, France.
Light Technology Exhibition on tour. In Shanghai, China, in Feb 2018.
Picasso.
The Bronte Sisters, National Portrait Gallery, London, England.

Goya, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Travel Websites
France:
http://us.france.fr
UK
visitbritain.com
visitbritain.org
Holland

Websites With Info On Paintings
Article on the Mona Lisa underpainting being revealed by French Scientist, in Shanghai in 2018.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35031997 
Article on the Goya painting, revealed in the USA.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15018174
Article on the Picasso Painting
BBC

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my next two posts on this subject. Please share links to your favourite posts.