Leonardo da Vinci's oil painting "Mona Lisa" looks rather gloomy with its dark green and brown colours. It is a little-known fact that the maestro painted the picture in bright colours - so the ...

Varnish does more than just provide a protective sheen to a violin. It influences the vibrations and impulses that the wood absorbs and therefore the quality of sound the instrument produces, says an ...

Violin makers routinely finish their instruments with a thick coat of varnish, the better to protect and preserve the wood. Now Swiss scientists claim that this varnish also plays a role in the ...

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. It may be the wood, the glue or the shape -- but experts have long suspected that the real secret of the cherished Stradivarius violin's ...

Using high-tech spectrometres, researchers at the Musee de la Musique in Paris studied the varnish used by Antonio Stradivari, one of the greatest violin-makers of all time - and found that the recipe ...

IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. This violin was made in Mirecourt, ...

Varnishes protect works of art and wooden instruments from environmental damage. However, until recently, little research had been carried out into the effects of varnish on the sound of violins. Empa ...