Is the Monalisa headed for surgery? Leonardo Da Vinci’s 500-year-old painting of the woman with the mysterious smile will go under the microscope, and be X-rayed for the first time in a half-century to determine what’s causing it to warp.The world’s most famous portrait, painted in Italy over several years beginning about 1505, has long been known to be fragile. The oil painting sits on a 12-mm poplar board that has undergone many nips and tucks over time. Last week, the Louvre Museum said warping was discovered during the most recent of routine checks, which are conducted every one to two years, and announced a study of the problem. The examinations are made on days that the museum is closed-allowing it to remain on public display.Vincent Pomarede, chief curator in the Louvre, said the study is to help determine whether past repair is doing more harm and whether new touchups are needed. ‘‘We’re launching this study to understand exactly what’s happening,’’ he said.‘‘On the other hand, we think perhaps at a certain time we might have to intervene, not at all on the picture layer, but the back, on the panel itself,’’ Pomarede said. —(PTI)
