Everyone thinks that the Mona Lisa in the famous painting of Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci is looking at you wherever you go, but it seems to be completely wrong, according to a new study that goes deeper into analyzing that view, which still holds its secrets.
A new study shows that women in the famous Mona Lisa look at a 15.4-degree angle from the right side of the viewer, out of the range that people usually realize when they think someone is looking directly at them.
In other words, according to the supervisor of the study, Gernot Horstmann, a psychologist specializing in cognitive psychology at the University of Bielefeld, Germany: "In fact, she does not look at you."
Wrong
The author of the report said that this is somewhat ridiculous, because the phenomenon of chasing the eyes of someone who is painted in a picture or a plate for everyone who sees it called "the effect of Mona Lisa."
Horstmann said this effect is very real. If someone is drawn or photographed and looks straight ahead, those who look at the picture from any angle will feel he is being seen. As long as the person's angle of view does not exceed five degrees - on either side - the Mona Lisa effect is present.
In this context, Horstmann believes that this is important for human interaction with those who appear on the screen. Horstmann and his computer scientist at the University of Bielefeld, Sebastian Looth, were studying this effect to apply it to the creation of images using artificial intelligence.
When Horstmann gave a good look at the Mona Lisa, he realized something: "She does not look at me."
To make sure, the researchers presented the picture of the Mona Lisa on the computer screen in front of 24 people, and then placed a ruler between the participants' area of view and the screen, and asked them to observe the number that will appear on the ruler at the intersection with the eyes of the Mona Lisa.
To test whether the other features of the painting made any difference in the way the Mona Lisa looked, the researchers zoomed in to make her eyes, nose, or head visible. To calculate the angle of view of Mona Lisa when pursuing the viewer, the researchers removed the ruler and rounded the screen, which gave them two points to work on them to be able to measure the angle.
Look at the right side
The researchers found that the participants reported that the women in the Mona Lisa were not directly looking at them but were looking in the right direction. "It is clear that the angle of view of the Mona Lisa is outside this range when you feel like looking at you," Horstmann said.
However, Horstmann is still not sure why people say repeatedly that her eyes are clinging to the viewer. He added that people may want people to look at them. That's why they think women look at them directly, even if they are not Also, or perhaps those who coined the term "Mona Lisa Effect" for the first time thought that was a wonderful name.