Mona Lisa Speaks Mandarin 蒙娜麗莎講漢語

What would you ask her? 你會向她提什么問題?

One question has intrigued art lovers around the world for generations: what is the secret behind the Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile?

Well now they have the chance to ask her directly, thanks to a new interactive exhibition in Beijing which brings the 500-year-old painting to life.

Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th century masterpiece is now able to move her head and wave her hand in 3D, and even answer questions.

But when she talks it’s not Renaissance Italian you hear. Instead, it’s something like this:

“Dajia hao, wo jiao Mengna Lisha. Hen gaoxing jiandao nimen.”

The new, digital version of the Mona Lisa is the centrepiece of the World Classic Interactive Arts Exhibition in Beijing, which also features other world-famous paintings such as da Vinci’s Last Supper.

The exhibition’s organiser Wang Hui spent two years preparing the collection with a team of over 400 digital artists in South Korea, at a cost of around 50m yuan.

He says, "What's special about this is that it's the first time 3D technology, holographic technology, and voice recognition technology are fused together in one exhibit."

So what does the Mona Lisa say if you ask her why she is smiling?

She admits many people find her smile mysterious, but also hints that she is happy about becoming pregnant again after the death of a child.

Indeed, research by Canadian scientists on the actual painting revealed she was wearing a thin gauzy dress popular with early 16th century Italian ladies who were pregnant or had just given birth.

The original Mona Lisa is an oil painting on a board of poplar and is housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris.