Behind an Enigmatic Smile

Mona Lisa was created by a genius painter, Leonardo da Vinci. This masterpiece was able to draw the attention of many not just of perfection but with intriguing details in it. Leonardo da Vinci, being a genius painter he is, created a smile, an enigmatic smile that could draw you in. Many wonders what's behind 'that' smile, was it really fascinating or our eyes were just playing a silly trick on us?

If you look close to the painting you'll notice that her expression seems to change, depending on the direction of how you look at her. One look she's smiling the second look, she's not. Looks can be really deceiving at times. Critics tried hard enough to reveal the mystery, but then to no avail, they always fail. Until the day that one neurologist discovered something new. "This enigmatic smile" was caused by our mind and sight alone. Different point of direction and her different expressions was caused by a trick played by our sight. This trick concerns the way we see. Our eyes use two regions to see. When we look at someone's face we focus centrally in their eyes. Gazing at her eyes our peripheral vision notices the mouth, catching the shadows from our cheekbones. The shadow plays the trick, hinting the curve of a smile. When we look to her mouth directly, the smile seems to fade because shadow was not present to do the trick.

After the trick was revealed. critics proved it correct/ She smiles and then shows a serious face. On the other hand many mysteries about the painting are still unreached and at the same time, unresolved. This only proves how great Leonardo da Vinci was at his time. He was able to create a masterpiece of perfection that could last for a millennia.