Mona Lisa

It's not quite The Da Vinci Code but Canadian researchers have settled an old controversy - Mona Lisa was originally painted with her hair tied back in a bun. Laser imagery has calmed fears the 16th century Italian mother-of-three wasn't so respectable as history would tell us - only females of bad virtue wore their hair loose
But then, maybe Leonardo Da Vinci didn't hold the same esteem for Mona - real name, Lisa Gherardini - later in life as he did when he first painted the work, loosening the bun at some stage and inciting disrespect for the woman a wealthy businessman had earlier commissioned him to depict, apparently to commemorate the birth of her second son.
The 3D scans have also shown Mona Lisa wore a thin, transparent maternity veil that has become lost under yellow varnish.
And according to the scientists, Mona originally appeared more nervous. She gripped her chair more tightly and was sitting upright, rather than resting against the back of her chair. Perhaps that explains that odd smile of hers.