Scanning the Mona Lisa with the NRC-IIT 3-D scanner

For 500 years, she’s been the source of endless real and fictional mysteries, from the magic of her eyes—always seeming to follow the viewer—and the enigma of her smile, to The Da Vinci Code.

Now, using a sophisticated 3-D color laser scanning system and the PolyWorks software suite, the National Research Council Canada–Institute for Information Technology (NRC–IIT) scientists helped reveal some secrets behind the most famous painting in the world.

At the request of the Paintings Department of the Louvre, the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF) undertook a study of the Mona Lisa. This study coincided with the relocalization of the painting to the new “Salle des États,” and is considered the most extensive scientific examination of a painting ever undertaken. As part of this project, the C2RMF invited a team of scientists from the NRC–IIT to participate, because of its renowned expertise in 3-D imaging and modeling technologies

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