Mona Lisa's Secret?

For 500 years the most famous painting in the world has also brought with it many questions. Leonardo da Vinci created the Mona Lisa, and the mystery of it followed. Who was the painting of? Where was da Vinci when he painted it? These are just a few of the questions that people have asked for years.

With the advances in technology, scientists and art historians have done much work to solve this mystery. Earlier in 2010, scientists used x-ray technology to "peel" away at the various layers of the painting. This allowed them to see how the painting was constructed in a way that was never capable prior. Nonetheless, the search for answers continues.

Recently scientists used magnifying powers to make a new discovery. Apparently they found never before seen letters and numbers in the painting. An 'L' and a 'V' were found together, as well as 'C' and 'E' and the numbers '7', '2'. The first two letters would make sense given the name of the artist. The rest just add to the mystery.

That being said, this sounds like one of those cases where a picture of Jesus is found on a piece of toast. Am I supposed to believe that 500 years after creation, it takes scientist using a magnifying tool to spot something that looks like letters? If it's too small to see with the naked eye, how do you suppose Leonardo da Vinci was able to write something so small that he could not see for himself? (For the sake of the argument, I won't get into the history of the magnifying glass)

Think back for a moment. Have you ever looked for something so hard that you started believing you actually found it? Maybe these scientists were trying too hard to find an answer? Isn't it more reasonable that there are coincidental brush strokes? Those who made the discovery aren't even sure if the 'E' they found is just that, or rather a 'B'.

To me this sounds like a fantastic publicity stunt to get people talking about the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci. It certainly is possible that da Vinci left these hidden marks - but until I see a close up of the painting myself, I'm going to doubt the apparent findings.