Can You Recognize These Celebrities Through a Renaissance Filter? This Website Uses A.I. to Leonardo da Vinci-fy Any Photo

Take our quiz to see if you can identify the celebrities with 'Da Vinci face.'

Can you name these two celebrities with Da Vinci Face?

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if Leonardo da Vinci had painted your portrait? If you have, or if the idea came to you just now, there’s a website for you: DaVinci Face, which uses artificial intelligence to transform users’ photos into personalized Mona Lisa selfies.

The virtual platform, from Mathema, a tech company in Florence, Italy, uses artificial intelligence (AI) and sophisticated machine learning algorithms trained to mimic Leonardo da Vinci paintings like the Mona Lisa and La Belle Ferronnière.

It was harder than researchers may have thought. The existing neural style transfer techniques were not sophisticated enough to capture Leonardo’s masterful brushstrokes.

“Leonardo’s style is particularly hard to capture due to the widespread use of chiaroscuro, a pictorial technique where shapes are formed directly from color instead of having a prior drawing that is, then, colored,” Mathema spokesperson Massimiliano Bellini told the Art Newspaper.

To generate new Leonardo-style portraits, the company had to develop new deep learning generative neural network (GAN) technology based on no fewer than 500 million parameters.

Timothee Chalamet with Da Vinci Face.

To achieve the best result, users should choose a photo with a neutral background, where you can see the person’s entire face. The algorithm can only handle one figure at a time, so no group photos. Also, we’re talking about the Mona Lisa, so give it your best mysterious half-smile—no toothy grins here.

If all goes well, a new version of your photo, blended with features from Leonardo’s paintings, will be emailed to you.

Demand is currently so high for the Da Vinci Face treatment that “the whole process may take a few hours or even a few days,” according to an auto-response email from the company. (Normally, it takes about 100 seconds.) Luckily, we got in ahead of the crowds and were able to turn out some celebrity Renaissance portraits for your enjoyment.

Can you recognize these A-listers in Mona Lisa-form? (Be forewarned—the algorithm doesn’t generate much range in its skin tones, which may make it tricky.)

Leonardo DiCaprio with Da Vinci Face.

Kanye West with Da Vinci Face.

Emma Stone with Da Vinci Face.

Halle Berry with Da Vinci Face.

Kim Kardashian with Da Vinci Face.

Anne Hathaway with Da Vinci Face.

Jennifer Lawrence with Da Vinci Face.

Oprah Winfrey with Da Vinci Face.

Matt Damon with Da Vinci Face.

Lupita Nyong'o with Da Vinci Face.

Bradley Cooper with Da Vinci Face.

 

Here are the answers:

Zendaya with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Sean Zanni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Zendaya with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Sean Zanni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Timothee Chalamet with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Sean Zanni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Timothee Chalamet with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Sean Zanni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Leonardo DiCaprio with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Michael Ostuni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Leonardo DiCaprio with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Michael Ostuni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Kanye West with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Clint Spaulding ©Patrick McMullan.

Kanye West with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Clint Spaulding ©Patrick McMullan.

Emma Stone with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Emma Stone with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Halle Berry with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Jimi Celeste, ©Patrick McMullan.

Halle Berry with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Jimi Celeste, ©Patrick McMullan.

Kim Kardashian with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Clint Spaulding, ©Patrick McMullan.

Kim Kardashian with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Clint Spaulding, ©Patrick McMullan.

Anne Hathaway with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Paul Bruinooge, ©Patrick McMullan.

Anne Hathaway with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Paul Bruinooge, ©Patrick McMullan.

Jennifer Lawrence with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Michael Ostuni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Jennifer Lawrence with Da Vinci Face. Photo by Michael Ostuni, ©Patrick McMullan.

Oprah Winfrey with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Oprah Winfrey with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Matt Damon with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Matt Damon with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Lupita Nyong'o with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Lupita Nyong’o with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Bradley Cooper with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.

Bradley Cooper with Da Vinci Face. Photo by David Crotty, ©Patrick McMullan.


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