Share:
Puzzle about Mona Lisa's smile The facial expressions should be unique
The "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the most famous painting in the world. It was created over 500 years ago. And for almost as long as the discussion about what the smile of the woman on the oil painting has to mean: Is she sad or happy? German researchers think their facial expressions are clearer than expected.
Probably the most famous painting in the world
The oil painting "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci is probably the most famous image in the world. No other masterpiece has so many myths as the beauty of the Italian painter. Much is discussed about the woman's smile: is it an expression of sadness or cheerfulness? Researchers from Germany report now, the facial expression of the painted woman is clearer than imagined.
No other masterpiece has so many myths as the Mona Lisa. Is her smile an expression of happiness or sadness? German researchers think facial expressions are clearer than expected. (Image: Indigo / fotolia.com) Ambiguous facial expression
The supposedly ambiguous expression of the Mona Lisa has long been considered a major reason for the enormous appeal of the painting of the Italian artist. Is the painting happy or sad??
Scientists at Freiburg University Hospital, the Institute of Psychology at the University of Freiburg and the Freiburg Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP) have now found in a study that subjects perceive the Mona Lisa almost 100 percent of the time as happy.
According to a communication from the university hospital, they also found out that the emotional assessment of the images depends on which other image variants have been shown so far.
Mona Lisa is almost always perceived as happy
To get to the results, the researchers presented the subject with the original painting and eight image variants, on which the corners of the mouth of the Mona Lisa were shifted downwards or upwards, creating a sadder or happier expression.
"It was a big surprise for us that the original Mona Lisa is almost always perceived as cheerful. This contradicts the accepted opinion of art history, "said PD Dr. med. Jürgen Kornmeier, head of the research group Perception and Cognition in the Freiburg IGPP and scientist at the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital Freiburg.
The study results were recently published in the scientific journal "Scientific Reports".
Happy faces are recognized faster
The scientists initially produced eight Mona Lisa variants for the study, which differed only in a gradual change in the curvature of the mouth.
Then the twelve subjects were presented with the original and four pictures each with a sadder and happier expression in random order. At the touch of a button, the test subjects indicated for each image whether they perceived it as happy or sad, and then how confident they were in their response.
In the sum of the answers so a percentage value on a scale from sad to happy and a value for the security of their decision resulted.
As stated in the communication, almost 100 percent of the time the original and all the more positive variants were perceived as cheerful. The subjects recognized happy facial expressions faster than sad ones. "It seems we have a filter for positive facial expressions in our brains," Dr. Korn Meier.
Perception adapts to the environment
In another experiment, the researchers retained the variant with the least mouth curvature as the saddest variant.
When they presented the Mona Lisa original as the most cheerful variation as well as seven intermediate variants - three of which had already been shown in the first experiment - they were astonished to find that the subjects now tended to those image variants that had already been shown in the first experiment perceived as sadder.
"The data shows that our perception of whether a face is sad or happy is not absolute, but it adjusts to the environment with astonishing rapidity," Dr. Korn Meier.
Brain must construct an image of the world
According to the information, the study is part of a larger project by Dr. Ing. Kornmeier and Prof. Tebartz van Elst at the University Medical Center Freiburg, where perceptual processes are investigated.
"With our senses, we can only record a very limited part of the information from our environment, for example because an object is partially obscured or poorly lit," Dr. Korn Meier.
"The brain then has to construct from the incomplete and often ambiguous information a picture of the world that comes closest to reality".
The Freiburg researchers are investigating how these healthy processes of construction work and whether they are altered in people with mental illnesses, such as delusions. (Ad)