Art hidden under Da Vinci painting

July 1st 2005

Leonardo Da Vinci “Virgin of the Rocks” painting was discovered that there was a drawing of a kneeling woman with her head bowed down and one arm reaching out.  The technology used to discover this was the infrared X-ray technique used by curators.  Britain's National Gallery revealed this past Friday that this “Virgin of the Rocks” painting is more than just a copy as thought as another version hangs in the Louvre in Paris. 

Leonardo Da Vinci was commissioned by a chapel in Milan in 1483.  One copy was likely sold to a private collector and the other one that is now in the National Gallery was placed in the Chapel.

"Experts think Leonardo Da Vinci was probably planning a picture of an adoration of the Christ child, but abandoned the idea before drawing Jesus as a baby," said BBC arts correspondent Rebecca Jones.

"However, why he painted over the work may never be known."   Thoughts of secret messages are abounding with the popular novel by Dan Brown, “The Da Vinci Code”.

The popular book series “The Da Vinci Code” which has become a best seller, which is in its 56^th printing with 7.35 million copies in print at this time, discusses possibilities of coded messages in Da Vinci’s art work.  Since the popularity of the work filming began on June 29, 2005 for the movie version of this book in Paris' exclusive and upscale Place Vendome.  Expected release date from Columbia Pictures movie version is set for May 19, 2006.

By Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer