Leonardo Mirror

In 2015, “Da Vinci’s hidden pictures” went round the world

Hidden in a masterpiece:break the cipher.

Leonardo Mirror is the app for breaking it with your own fingers.The key is a single axis. Fold a Leonardo drawing back along it and an alien that is nowhere in the original looks straight back at you. You can break it right now, on the slider below.

Try it in the browserBrowse the artworks
Download on the App Store
  • Free
  • Works offline
  • No ads
— Starter preset “The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist ①”. Right half, axis 0.70, zoom ×1.97. A screen from the device, mirrored with the "Reveal" look
Reveal— Starter preset “The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist ①”. Right half, axis 0.70, zoom ×1.97

Real screens from the device. Nothing retouched.

Here is the key

The key is a single axis.

The alien now standing between the two women is nowhere in the original. Move the axis and it is gone. Move it back and it returns.

Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, mirrored across a movable axis
0.47

This is as far as the browser goes. The 3D fold in progress and the colour looks run in the app.

The tools

There are only three things to touch.

Pick a painting. Move the axis. Change the look.

  1. The gallery screen of the app, with thumbnails of paintings in two columns

    Pick a painting

    Where every image came from is written on its ⓘ — artist, date, collection, source.

  2. The app in use: a colour-look bar, zoom and axis sliders, and a face risen out of the mirrored seam

    Axis and zoom

    Move in close on the detail. Turn the whole view to hunt for the angle it comes out at.

  3. The app with the X-ray look selected, showing a high-contrast monochrome image

    Change the look

    Change the colour and what you were looking at a second ago is gone, replaced by something else. Push it to X-ray and it reads like a radiograph.

How far it goes

How many come out of one painting?

Save the one you found and hand it over as a few characters.

11 colour looks

Original, monochrome, cool, warm, high-contrast, reveal and X-ray, plus four colour-vision looks. Hold the axis still, change only the look, and something else comes out of the same fold.

The colour-look bar at the bottom of the app, with an intensity slider

An axis that follows your finger

It does not split down the middle — the axis itself moves. Shift it by 0.01 and it is a different person.

The axis slider at the bottom of the app, reading 0.69

Watch the fold in progress

Not a left-right flip. The picture stands up the way paper closes, and you can watch the middle of it. Just before it shuts is the strangest.

Save it, hand it over

Painting, axis, look and fold saved together, then handed over as a few characters that open the same state on someone else’s screen.

Pro

Bring your own image

A photo from your library or an image URL, on the same stage as the paintings. You can delete what you brought in at any time.

The "Import an image" choices over the gallery: "Choose from Photos" and "Load from a URL"
Pro

Keep more of what you found

You can save more of them, so the next time you open a painting you are not starting the search over.

A list of saved looks. Under each title and timestamp: the axis value, the colour look, and how far it is folded
Pro

Download more paintings

Pick an artist and download just that artist’s paintings. On a style tab, you can take a whole period at once. Downloaded paintings fold on the same stage as the included ones.

Everything without the Pro mark is free. Pro is a one-time purchase; the price is at the bottom of this page.

The collection

There are 35 paintings to break.

Mona Lisa, St John the Baptist, The Kiss, Saturn Devouring His Son. The axis that breaks it sits somewhere different in every painting. With Pro, you can add 283 more paintings by 72 artists, downloaded artist by artist.

  • Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci (Louvre (FR))Saint John the BaptistLeonardo da VinciLouvre (FR)
  • Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (Louvre (FR))Mona LisaLeonardo da VinciLouvre (FR)
  • Self-Portrait at Twenty-Eight by Albrecht Dürer (Alte Pinakothek (DE))Self-Portrait at Twenty-EightAlbrecht DürerAlte Pinakothek (DE)
  • Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer (Mauritshuis (NL))Girl with a Pearl EarringJohannes VermeerMauritshuis (NL)
  • The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (Belvedere (AT))The KissGustav KlimtBelvedere (AT)
  • Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco Goya (Museo del Prado (ES))Saturn Devouring His SonFrancisco GoyaMuseo del Prado (ES)
  • The Cyclops by Odilon Redon (Kröller-Müller Museum (NL))The CyclopsOdilon RedonKröller-Müller Museum (NL)
  • Oedipus and the Sphinx by Gustave Moreau (The Metropolitan Museum of Art (US))Oedipus and the SphinxGustave MoreauThe Metropolitan Museum of Art (US)
  • Self-Portrait with Physalis by Egon Schiele (Leopold Museum (AT))Self-Portrait with PhysalisEgon SchieleLeopold Museum (AT)
  • The Night Watch by Rembrandt (Rijksmuseum (NL))The Night WatchRembrandtRijksmuseum (NL)
  • The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer (Rijksmuseum (NL))The MilkmaidJohannes VermeerRijksmuseum (NL)
  • The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh (Museum of Modern Art (US))The Starry NightVincent van GoghMuseum of Modern Art (US)
See the other 23
  • Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez (Museo del Prado (ES))Las MeninasDiego VelázquezMuseo del Prado (ES)
  • View of Toledo by El Greco (The Metropolitan Museum of Art (US))View of ToledoEl GrecoThe Metropolitan Museum of Art (US)
  • The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (Kunsthistorisches Museum (AT))The Tower of BabelPieter Brueghel the ElderKunsthistorisches Museum (AT)
  • The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch (Museo del Prado (ES))The Garden of Earthly DelightsHieronymus BoschMuseo del Prado (ES)
  • The Fighting Temeraire by J. M. W. Turner (The National Gallery (UK))The Fighting TemeraireJ. M. W. TurnerThe National Gallery (UK)
  • The Saint-Lazare Station by Claude Monet (Musée d'Orsay (FR))The Saint-Lazare StationClaude MonetMusée d'Orsay (FR)
  • Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Musée d'Orsay (FR))Dance at Le Moulin de la GalettePierre-Auguste RenoirMusée d'Orsay (FR)
  • Where Do We Come From? by Paul Gauguin (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (US))Where Do We Come From?Paul GauguinMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston (US)
  • Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich (Hamburger Kunsthalle (DE))Wanderer above the Sea of FogCaspar David FriedrichHamburger Kunsthalle (DE)
  • Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix (Louvre (FR))Liberty Leading the PeopleEugène DelacroixLouvre (FR)
  • The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (The Metropolitan Museum of Art (US))The Great Wave off KanagawaKatsushika HokusaiThe Metropolitan Museum of Art (US)
  • Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci (National Gallery of Art (US))Ginevra de' BenciLeonardo da VinciNational Gallery of Art (US)
  • Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper (reverse of Ginevra) by Leonardo da Vinci (National Gallery of Art (US))Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper (reverse of Ginevra)Leonardo da VinciNational Gallery of Art (US)
  • La Belle Ferronnière by Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (Louvre (FR))La Belle FerronnièreAttributed to Leonardo da VinciLouvre (FR)
  • Madonna of the Carnation by Leonardo da Vinci (Alte Pinakothek (DE))Madonna of the CarnationLeonardo da VinciAlte Pinakothek (DE)
  • Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci (Czartoryski Museum (PL))Lady with an ErmineLeonardo da VinciCzartoryski Museum (PL)
  • The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Leonardo da Vinci (Louvre (FR))The Virgin and Child with Saint AnneLeonardo da VinciLouvre (FR)
  • Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre) by Leonardo da Vinci (Louvre (FR))Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre)Leonardo da VinciLouvre (FR)
  • The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci (The National Gallery (UK))The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the BaptistLeonardo da VinciThe National Gallery (UK)
  • The Last Supper (copy after Leonardo) by Giampietrino (Royal Academy of Arts, London (UK))The Last Supper (copy after Leonardo)GiampietrinoRoyal Academy of Arts, London (UK)
  • Zodiac by Alphonse Mucha (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek (DE))ZodiacAlphonse MuchaStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek (DE)
  • Design for the Salon des Cent poster (1896) by Alphonse Mucha (Musée Carnavalet (Paris Musées) (FR))Design for the Salon des Cent poster (1896)Alphonse MuchaMusée Carnavalet (Paris Musées) (FR)
  • Monaco Monte-Carlo by Alphonse Mucha (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek (DE))Monaco Monte-CarloAlphonse MuchaStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek (DE)
Artworks
35
Artists
23
Colour looks
11
Third-party SDKs
0

Every artwork is in the public domain or CC0. How the rights in a photographic reproduction are treated varies by country, so check the conditions at each artwork’s source before using an image outside the app.

Privacy

Two places the app talks to. That is all.

  • The only things that leave the app are “import an image from a URL” and “download additional paintings” (both Pro). Skip both and every feature works in airplane mode.
  • Both only fetch images. There is no account and no sign-in screen.
  • The app has no analytics and no advertising.

See theprivacy policyfor details.

Questions

Questions people often ask.

How much space does it take?
About 60 MB. The included paintings are on your device from the start. Downloading more paintings with Pro adds to that.
What languages does it support?
Japanese and English. It follows your device language.
Can I use my own photos?
Yes, with Pro — from your photo library or from an image URL. The 35 paintings that ship with the app are free to use.
Where can I get it?
It is on the App Store.
Who makes it?
One independent developer. Write to [email protected].
Did Leonardo really hide it?
We do not know. What we know is that folding makes an alien appear. This app makes no claims about history or about the artists.

Once you have seen it, you cannot unsee it.

The 3D fold in progress and the colour looks are all waiting inside the app.

Download on the App Store

The app is free. No subscription, no ads. Only Pro, which brings in your own images and downloads more paintings, is a one-time purchase: US$3.99 on the US App Store, in your local currency elsewhere.

Requires iPhone / iOS 17.0 or later