Sometimes, I wish people would leave well enough alone. The thought came to me as I read an article about how researchers discovered Leonardo Da Vinci's methods of painting.

Initially, I thought, "How cool. These Italians rock."  And the methods the Italians used to discover Da Vinci's painting techniques really were cool - they used nuclear acceleration to blast a painting and reveal the technique.

Then I thought, "Well. Another one bites the dust." The mystery and wonder was gone. Good ol' Da Vinci's secrets were in the open, and now anyone could replicate what he'd done. That's kind of sad, if you think about it. Since 1519, we've been trying to solve the mystery, and it's all over and done.

But we're curious creatures. We really can't be blamed for wanting to know how and why. It's part of development and improvement, after all. That same curiosity does take away much of the fun of a good head-scratcher, though.

The funny thing is that this penchant for solving mysteries seems to revolve around expressions of art. Take Rosyln Chapel, for example, a church that hid music in code.  Recently cracked code, of course. Remember, we're curious.

Maybe we strive to discover hidden clues and reveal the truth comes from expressions of art because it's all about imagination. There isn't anything interesting about how Velcro works, for example. Nothing much to learn there. Or why the zipper works so well. We made it, we know it, and we accept it for what it is. Sure, both Velcro and zippers were great ideas, but the spurt of imagination required to come up with the concept was practical and functional.

Not so with Leonardo. His imagination was an expression of what he could see with both his eyes and his mind, layering brushstrokes to conceive of something beautiful that stirred emotion.

Then again, maybe brushstrokes aren't that imaginative, or painting a portrait not so amazing after all. Hm. I still think I prefer a good mystery.

Posted by Louise.

Louise writes for Creative And Unique Gift Ideas.