Mona Lisa alopecia is the diagnosis proposed in a new medical study of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous portrait, suggesting the sitter's missing eyebrows and eyelashes were caused by alopecia areata universalis, an autoimmune condition that removes hair from the entire body. The study ‘ Alopecia areata universalis in Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa: A systematic retrospective iconodiagnosis ’ uses retrospective iconodiagnosis, the practice of identifying disease from artworks, and deliberately examines the painted surface rather than the woman herself. Its conclusion is striking, what has often been put down to Renaissance fashion may instead be a careful, accurate and dignified record of illness, painted by an artist famous for observing the human body closely. The proposal offers a fresh perspective on how art history and modern dermatology can intersect to reinterpret familiar masterpieces through scientific evidence.
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