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Scientists found plumbonacrite and a lead-rich, strongly saponified oil mixture in an exceptional microsample from the Mona Lisa’s ground layer. They infer that Leonardo da Vinci probably treated oil with a high load of lead(II) oxide to make it thicker. That is a plausible reconstruction from a tiny sample—not a definitive recipe for the whole painting.
What did scientists find in the Mona Lisa’s paint?
A 2023 study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society examined an exceptional microsample from the Mona Lisa’s ground layer using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and micro Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The researchers reported plumbonacrite, a lead-rich and strongly saponified oil mixture, and lead-white pigment depleted in cerussite (PbCO3).
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The ground is the preparatory layer beneath the paint. The finding therefore concerns material in that layer; the sample was not a survey of every layer or every area of the painting.
What does the chemistry suggest about Leonardo’s method?
The researchers propose that Leonardo treated oil with a high load of lead(II) oxide (PbO). According to the CNRS Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris account, adding lead oxide could have made the oil more viscous, helping create a thick ground suited to a wooden panel. The additive also altered the lead white, with plumbonacrite forming as a result.
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This is an inference from the compounds measured in the sample, not a recipe written down by Leonardo or proof that he used the same mixture throughout the Mona Lisa. ESRF researcher Victor Gonzalez described the unusually high amount of plumbonacrite as something the researchers thought was due to a specific mix of oil with lead oxide.
What is plumbonacrite?
Plumbonacrite is a lead-containing compound identified in the sampled ground layer. Its presence, together with the lead-rich oil and altered lead white, helps support the researchers’ proposed explanation of how the materials interacted. By itself, however, it does not establish a complete formula or show that the same mixture was used across the painting.
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How certain is the finding?
The chemical identifications apply to the analyzed microsample. The proposed high-lead-oxide treatment is the researchers’ likely explanation for those findings, not a proven historical recipe for the entire work. The study appeared in 2023, so it is not a newly published 2026 discovery.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How does the Mona Lisa result relate to The Last Supper?
The same paper reports separate analyses of fragments from The Last Supper, where researchers identified litharge (α-PbO), massicot (β-PbO), plumbonacrite, and shannonite. Those compounds come from different artwork samples and should not be presented as a list of substances found in the Mona Lisa sample. Together, the studies offer evidence about Leonardo’s materials, but the Last Supper results do not enlarge what was measured in the Mona Lisa.
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