In England, archaeologists have found new explanation for an old mystery. For many years, people have been fascinated with the smile of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting, "Mona Lisa". There seem to be a mystery with the woman. Now, scientists in Bradford, England say they know why the Mona Lisa smiled that way: guess what? She had bad teeth!
Scientists believe that the painting shows a woman called Isabella of Aragon, also known as La Gioconda. She lived in the 1500s when dentists do not know as much about teeth as they do today. Therefore, many people had bad teeth. Could Isabella had bad teeth?
Archaeologists thought that Isabella might have had something to hide. They looked at her teeth. Sure enough, they were black and scarred. The old-fashioned toothpaste that Isabella used may have caused these problems. They could also have come from using mercury, a poison that was used as a medicine.
So when Leonardo started painting, Isabella did not say "cheese!".
-an article from a student journal, August 1999.
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