In 2018, Boutique AI started the development of a stenographic artificial intelligence system able to extract the essence of a painting and uncover its secrets.
The core AI engine has been inspired by state-of-the-art transfer learning technologies that have disrupted the industry since their first appearance in 2015, with the famous research paper: “A neural Algorithm of Artistic Style”.
Art will not be the same… And here, we are elated to present “Leonardo Da Vinci’s Essence Collection”.
The Da Vinci’s essence collection is the very first collection created by Boutique AI. Why Essence? We shaped the underlying AI technology based on a style transfer algorithm where machine learning breaks down the defining visual and thematic features of an artwork, using a proprietary methodology able to extract the essence of a painting and possibly uncover the presence steganographic content.
This collection consists of three framed paintings that take inspirations from iconic Da Vinci’s masterpieces: Gioconda, Salvador Mundi and The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. Each image is printed on a canvas and is manually framed using high-end frames of Italian manufacture.
Da Vinci’s essence collection is possibly uncovering long standing enigmas of his paintings.
How does artificial intelligence interpret a masterpiece like the Gioconda? Our algorithm studied high-resolution digital reproductions of the Gioconda — to learn the artist’s aesthetic fingerprint. Inspired by the style of Da Vinci’s Gioconda, Mona Lisa essence is the first creation of this collection. “The Master” is hidden underneath his masterpiece and the result is very enigmatic: Leonardo’s silhouette takes shape in the middle of the image, pretentiously becoming the first tangible proof in favour of the theories stating that Mona Lisa is a self-portrait of Da Vinci. Could it be that Da Vinci used steganography in some of his paintings? Indeed, Leonardo was a renaissance artist and steganography was invented in the ancient Greece.
