8 Hidden Secrets In The Mona Lisa

6. High Cholesterol

Besides her identity - which rather nicely illustrates the Madonna-whore complex, now that we think about it - the most hotly debated topic when it comes to the Mona Lisa is her smile. Whether or not she's actually smirking in her portrait (which would be some pretty bad modelling on her part, let us tell you - you're meant to sit still, dang it!) is something will get into later, but right now we wanna focus on the reason for her smiling.

Maybe Leonardo da Vinci told a funny joke, maybe he looked kinda funny, or maybe she just had a sunny personality. Or maybe she had high cholesterol. We guess that, whoever she was, Mona Lisa liked to gorge on the cheese and Pukka Pies, since according to one scientist the reason for her smile was because her cholesterol levels were worryingly high. Although back in those days being a bit chubby was a sign of wealth and power - look at Henry VIII - so, good for her? Dr Vito Franco, from Palermo University, took a different tack to the art historians in analysing the painting, identifying a number of tell-tale signs of high cholesterol in the face of Mona Lisa. He'd probably be a pretty great, speedy GP if he didn't spend all of his time prodding around in old paintings.

According to Franco's view of the portrait Mona Lisa shows clear signs of a build-up of fatty acids under the skin, caused by too much cholesterol. He also reckons there might be a lipoma, or benign fatty-tissue tumour, in her right eye. So maybe the smile was more about how much junk food she'd been chowing down on beforehand, or even a couple of chubby chipmunk cheeks full of leftovers? Gotta keep yourself fed whilst sitting for hours in some grubby art studio, we suppose.