#AllQuestionsABoutArt "What's the most popular work of art in the world?" someone approached me on the street with that question. The answer was obvious: "The Mona Lisa." But one question always nagged at me: where are her eyebrows?
Myth: "Mona Lisa doesn't have eyebrows because they were shaved off during the Renaissance."
Reality: In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte made ultra-detailed scans of the painting and found traces of eyebrows and eyelashes. Leonardo likely painted them, but they had faded over 500 years and were partially erased during cleaning.
Art isn't just about "beauty." Sometimes it's like a detective with a 240-megapixel camera.
What art question have you been Googling for ages but are too embarrassed to ask? Let us know in the comments—we'll discuss it in the next post.