This was written literally YEARS ago. Some of the information might be outdated but it gives you a better idea about what I found. (It's kinda embarassing now)

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"An Interview with Derek"

(I was featured on Unexplained-Mysteries.com. They asked for an article to post and this is what I wrote a couple months ago.)

For the last 500 years "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo Da Vinci has been one of the, if not the most recognizable pieces of art, and face, that's ever been created. She's inspired controversy, mystery, and wonder since 1504. The current belief is that she is a portrait of Maddame Lisa Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy silk merchant. There have been countless other theories but the identity of the sitter has been only one of the many mysteries surrounding this painting. The painting once held the world record for the worlds most expensive painting and today could be estimated to be worth almost a billion dollars, but that's assuming the Louvre would sell her.

Some new theories have emerged about the identity and mystery surrounding the worlds most famous work of art but from a very unexpected source. Derek Bair, a 24 year old aspiring writer and photographer from Lake Forest California. He's spent the last few months of his life trying to figure out the many mysteries that surround this painting and the life of Leonardo Da Vinci and thinks he's figured out who she really was.

"I realized that there was something special about Da Vinci that no one really explained in a way that made sense to me. What made him so curious? What compelled him to spend his entire life searching for the answers to life's biggest questions? But more so, how did he come so close to actually figuring them out!?"

His research started after watching the Da Vinci code but he had been interested in Leonardo before the book was released. Fittingly he read "How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci" a couple years back and says he felt that it helped channel his curiosity.

"He's been one of the only people I've been able to look up to that had the same immense curiosity about the world. Someone not satisfied with the answers the other people gave but needed to know for himself."

Derek says there are a lot of parallels in his own life and that of Leonardo. He's always been obsessed with animals, horses especially, and drawing. He's also kept journals which he describes as;

"They're immense, they've grown from a couple entries in high school to literally phone book sized or more each year after. They keep me sane and always listen! They're my life! – Literally."

For the last few months Derek Bair has been researching and analyzing the Mona Lisa and other art by Da Vinci and Raphael and has come up with some very intriguing theories. Some of which include that the Mona Lisa is "encoded with information to render her in 3d" & "contains hundreds of other images."

This might not be totally off based. The Mona Lisa was x-rayed and found to have at least 3 other paintings underneath. Not only that but there are layers which consist of transparent oils that are invisible to the naked eye.

"Why would there be layers on a painting that can't be seen? Why would he keep covering up his favorite painting time and time again? What are those other paintings underneath? I doubt he would paint them – just to cover them up. I bet they're meant to be seen"

The Mona Lisa is housed behind bullet proof glass and in a climate controlled environment. This isn't just for the paintings preservation but protection. She's been attacked in the past by someone throwing acid on her, stealing her, throwing a rock, and cutting the sizes off.

"I guess I'm not the only one who wants to know what's underneath!"

Derek's many theories also include the assertion that Da Vinci could be considered to be the world's first photographer.

"I consider Da Vinci to be the world's first photographer – he painted with such perfect detail and precision that his paintings, especially the Mona Lisa could not just be considered a photograph but something even more. Essentially a new medium that we can barely understand today, with all of our advanced technology we still don't even know how he painted it. There are no brush strokes."

Derek has been intrigued by the many mysteries surround the Mona Lisa including why the perspective the background is off. No one has really understood why it inexplicitly rises mysteriously behind her. Derek thinks this was just one clue to get people asking questions. He's found that if you roll up a print of the Mona Lisa that you'll see the edges match up. This is a significant discovery alone as no one has noticed this in the last 500 years.

He also has doesn't believe that the sitting is really Lisa Giocondo.

"It's definitely not her! She was used for her name and not her face. Just like Dan Brown used in his novel, Da Vinci was fond of word games and double meaning and "Mona Lisa" is no exemption."

The feminine form of Lisa Giocondo's last name, Gioconda means "Light hearted lady." Derek has found, not surprisingly that the exact center of the painting is focused on Mona's heart and is also has the most concentration of light. He says that this is just one of the many clues that Da Vinci left behind to help someone figure out who "she" really is.

One of the many theories of the true identity of the Mona Lisa has been Da Vinci himself. This stems from the fact that his own self portrait matches up exactly with that of the painting. Derek thinks this is no coincidence and after his research he's found another painting that also matches up. The painting is of Da Vinci's assistant and lover Salai, which is houses in a collection Alois collection in Lichtenstein.

"I thought it was fascinating that his own self portrait would match up with a painting of a woman. I tested this myself and found that it didn't just match up but combined in a way that produced new images. I actually started to write an entire book on the theory that it was really him as a woman but that ended up turning into something quite unexpected!"

When thinking of various other theories to describe why his face might match up with the Mona Lisa Derek also considered; A daughter, his mother, or a sister.

"I knew Da Vinci had it match up for a reason. A daughter made the most sense but considering that he never married I was left with the idea that it could have been a painted daughter. Then I wondered who he would have the other "parent" be. I remembered those machines in shopping malls that tell you what you child might look like after it takes a picture of someone and their partner – what if that's it?"

Interestingly after comparing the painting of Salai – Da Vinci's partner it matched up with the Mona Lisa even more than Da Vinci's sketch.

"It was one of those moments in my life where I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I only considered it as an alternate theory and was stunned when the painting of Salai matched up over the Mona Lisa. It made me realize why he kept everything such a secret! It made sense, kinda! It's so far fetched it's no wonder no one has considered it before. But that doesn't mean it isn't true."

If Derek's theories are correct then we might finally know who the Mona Lisa really was and also found another painting by the worlds greatest painter.

In all of Da Vinci's journals the name "Salai" was used most. It's also present in the Mona Lisa.

"M O N A L I S A, rearranged could spell out "Mon Salai" which means "my salai" in French or possibly "M on Salai" which is pretty cool since the painting of Salai does go over Mona! Or even Salino - another nickname of Salai's"

There seems to be so many coincidences surrounding this painting and Da Vinci to not consider there to be something to all of these claims however fantastic they might seem.

When asked how all of this could have been possible in a day when they didn't even have the modern convenience of a light bulb Derek says:

"Da Vinci is considered to be the greatest genius of all time, there was something special about his way of thinking. I think it was actually his lack of help that forced him to develop areas of his mind that no one else even knows they have. "

 

"There was something unique, something different about Leonardo da Vinci. Not just in what he thought about but how he thought. He saw things in a way that no one else could. "

Derek has a lot of theories for someone so young and who only started researching Da Vinci a few months ago. He's found it difficult to get anyone to listen to his theories due to lack of credentials.

"I don't have a formal education in art or a certificate to back me up but neither did Leonardo and he's regarded as the greatest genius so far. I think it was Einstein who said that if you haven't contributed to human knowledge by the age of thirty that you wouldn't!"

Derek studied Digital Media at a private college in Sydney Australia. He also went to Saddleback community college where he majored in philosophy and film production.

Derek has a lot of interesting theories that seem to ask more questions that they answer but has some pretty compelling evidence to back it up. He says the hardest part hasn't been the research and discoveries but not getting any recognition for his hard work.

"I had never even looked at paintings before all of this and came across this almost by chance. It's been really hard to put so much effort into something that I would have never even considered doing a year ago. It's also frustrating trying to get people to even look at what I've found, I'm not a good salesman!"

 

 There seems to be a growing interest in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and it's only now that we're able to understand how he created such amazing works of art.

 

"Although I never believed in such things before, there seems to be some guiding force behind what I've been doing. It could be something inside my own mind or something else – I've tried to, but I can't explain it." (The "guiding force" was reading da Vinci's journals. He left behind directions.)

 

"It's been an interesting experience. I've gone a little crazy, lost everything, but found myself. (whatever that means) "

 

In all of Da Vinci's hundreds of thousands of pages of journals, he mentions nothing about this painting. Instead his journals are written to teach someone how to truly see her. Once you can do that, then all of the mysteries turn from coincidences to clues.