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The Mona Lisa may be known for her mysterious grin, but this week in Italy, scientists may have discovered that the iconic beauty had something else: chronic hair loss.
Italian dermatologist Dr. Luigi Laino claims the Renaissance stunner, who was immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503, was likely suffering from alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that attacks follicles and causes sudden hair loss, especially after periods of stress or hormonal disruption.
“Four findings are legible on the face of the Mona Lisa,” wrote Laino in the academic journal Clinics in Dermatology. “Total bilateral loss of eyebrows, total bilateral loss of eyelashes, a frontal hairline without transition, and intact, non-scarred skin.”
Laino says there’s only one plausible scientific explanation for the masterpiece’s bare face.
“Of all available explanations, only alopecia areata universalis accounts for all four; the solitary supraciliary hair revealed by multispectral imaging, far from contradicting the diagnosis, reproduces one of its most characteristic clinical findings.”
Besides the visual evidence, Laino claims he’s got history on his (hairless, poreless) side:
Lisa Gherardini, the real name behind the famous face, was the teen bride of a cloth merchant in Florence. Before she turned 30, she had six children — four of whom died — and lived during a period of political upheaval, religious wars and plague.
The stress of just one of these catastrophes could provoke a hair-shedding episode in someone with alopecia, says the dermatologist. All of the disasters together would make it nearly impossible for Signora Gherardini to maintain a robust hairline.
If true, the Mona Lisa may be the most famous person in history with alopecia — but she’s far from the only celebrity who deals with the autoimmune disorder. Jada Pinkett Smith, Viola Davis and Lili Reinhart have all revealed alopecia diagnoses in the past. On the Netflix hit documentary show “America’s Sweethearts,” Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Armani Latimer also revealed her alopecia struggles.
Altogether, an estimated 6.7 million Americans have alopecia, according to Pfizer. Meanwhile, between 8 million and 10 million people view the Mona Lisa every year at the Louvre.
In his scientific article, Dr. Laino wrote that they should know what’s on the wall:
“I propose that the most contemplated face in the history of art be recognized for what, clinically, it has always shown,” he said. “A young woman with alopecia areata.”
