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Mona Lisa shows her age

The Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's 16th-century masterpiece, is deteriorating quickly, officials at France's Louvre Museum announced Monday.

An in-depth study will be conducted to determine why the thin, poplar wood panel on which the work is painted has experienced a significant deformation since the last time the painting was analysed by conservation experts.

The work, which depicts a mysterious woman with a slight smile, undergoes evaluation once every year or two.

While the condition of the world's most famous painting is causing "some worry," the estimated six million visitors a year who visit the Louvre Museum in Paris won't have to miss out on seeing the Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda in Italian.

"These analyses will take place in such a way as to allow the work to remain on public display," a museum spokesperson said.

The Centre for Research and Restoration of Museums of France will conduct the study.

Posted by thinkum at April 27, 2004 03:07 PM