. Using new technology, this book examines Da Vinci’s painting technique and reveals hidden layers within his works This book on The Lady with an Ermine is the first to examine in depth the painting technique of Leonardo da Vinci and reveals the secrets of the creation of his paintings. One key to this work is the unprecedented discovery of a true small ermine hidden beneath the visible animal that we see today. We also discover that the first intention of the Master was to paint a classic portrait - without an animal. Probably at the instigation of the Duke of Milan, Leonardo may have altered its composition and later added an ermine then, unsatisfied, transformed it again. Is it not strange then that in 1493 the first poem that describes this portrait does not mention the ermine, as this is an important element of the painting. Thanks to a revolutionary new technique, Pascal Cotte is able to analyse, layer by layer, all the superpositions of the brushstrokes. It is thus possible to reconstruct the whole story; from plank of wood, through all superimposed layers to the final appearance. Everything is analysed rigorously and methodically. The book also reveals important details about the construction of the painting, the wanderings of the painter, his hesitations, his errors and changes. All these findings were not previously visible using the traditional equipment of laboratories of museums. The author uses a new scientific method of analysis of pictorial works he invented and named L.A.M. for Layer Amplification Method. AUTHOR: Pascal Cotte is an optical engineer specialising in photography and image signal analysis. He is the inventor of the L.A.M. scientific imagery technique and the first high-definition multispectral camera, which he has used to digitise several works by Leonardo da Vinci: the Louvre’s Mona Lisa, in October 2004; The Lady with an Ermine in Cracov, in September 2007; La Bella Principessa in 2008; and La Belle Ferronniere in 2011. All told, Cotte has digitised over 2,000 works in public and private collections, and authored several studies scientific about famous paintings. Since 2007 Cotte’s exhibition The Secrets of Mona Lisa, produced by Australia’s Grande Exhibitions, has been seen by over 8 million visitors on all five continents. 200 colour, 190 b/w