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A hidden da Vinci lurks beneath 'The Virgin of the Rocks'
Researchers at the National Gallery of London have used cutting-edge techniques to reveal a hidden drawing beneath Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks. It shows that the great artist and his assistants, after laying out the original design, elected to take the biblical-themed painting in a completely different direction, to say the least.
The world's smallest Mona Lisa is made from DNA
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting isn't actually that big (30 inches tall), but Caltech researchers have found a way to make that seem downright gargantuan. They've used DNA to construct the smallest known Mona Lisa. At several hundred nanometers across, they're roughly as large as a lone E. coli bacterium -- the iconic smile is just 100nm wide. The trick was an adaptation of a DNA "origami" method that got the gene strands to fold and assemble into the right shape.
The unending fight to preserve 'The Last Supper'
In April, Italian marketplace chain Eataly announced it would sponsor the latest effort to preserve Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. It's the perfect marketing partnership: A food company saves the most famous depiction of a meal for future generations. This excerpt is from its online announcement, titled "Eataly Saves The Last Supper":
Hear Leonardo da Vinci's 500-year-old instrument play for the first time (video)
Leonardo da Vinci invented numerous devices that he never built, including the viola organista -- a machine-like instrument that combines a harpsichord, an organ and a viola da gamba. This 500-year-old idea is now a reality, however, thanks to Polish musician Slawomir Zubrzycki. His 5,000-hour project faithfully recreates da Vinci's concept, using a keyboard to press steel strings against moving wheels wrapped in horse hair. The results are sweet-sounding, despite the seemingly odd approach; as you'll hear in a debut performance after the break, Zubrzycki effectively becomes a one-man string ensemble. While it's doubtful that you'll ever find a viola organista in the local music shop, the one-off creation proves that da Vinci knew how to blend technology and art. [Image credit: Tomasz Wiech AFP/Getty Images]
