Code Discovered in the Eyes of the Mona Lisa

Silvano Vinceti, president of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage, spotted the letters and numbers in the Mona Lisa's eyes after fellow committee member discovered a musty book in an antique shop ­referring to symbols in the Mona Lisa's eyes.

Intrigue is usually focused on her enigmatic smile. All the attention is on her eyes this week.

In the right eye appear to be the letters 'LV' which could stand for the artist's name. While there are also symbols in the left eye, they are not as defined. More time, and perhaps a bit more treasure-hunting, will be needed to solve this mystery.

Silvano Vinceti explained: "To the naked eye the symbols are not visible but with a magnifying glass they can clearly be seen."

"In the right eye appear to be the letters LV which could well stand for his name, Leonardo da Vinci, while in the left eye there are also symbols but they are not as defined. It is very difficult to make them out clearly but they appear to be the letters CE, or it could be the letter B. In the arch of the bridge in the background the number 72 can be seen or it could be an L and the number 2."

"You have to remember the ­picture is almost 500 years old so it is not as sharp and clear as when first painted. From the preliminary investigations we have carried out we are confident they are not a mistake and were put there by the artist."

Mr Vinceti added: "Da Vinci put a special emphasis on the Mona Lisa and we know that in the last years of his life he took the painting with him everywhere. We also know that da Vinci was very esoteric and used symbols in his work to give out messages. Who knows, they may even ­possibly be a love message to the ­figure in the painting."Source:
Independent.ie, "Experts eye Da Vinci code -- but not in Mona Lisa's smile"
Daily Mail, "The real-life Da Vinci Code: Historians discover tiny numbers and letters in the eyes of the Mona Lisa"