The Mona Lisa's smile may always remain a mystery, but it is now possible to hear what her voice would have sounded like, thanks to a Japanese acoustics expert. Dr Matsumi Suzuki, who generally uses his skills to help with criminal investigations , measured the face and hands of Leonardo da Vinci's famous 16th century portrait to estimate her height and create a model of her skull. "Once we have that, we can create a voice very similar to that of the person concerned," Suzuki told Reuters in an interview at his Tokyo office last week. "We have recreated the voices of a lot of famous people that were very close to the real thing and have been used in film dubbing. " The chart of any individual's voice, known as a voice print, is unique to that person and Suzuki says he believes he has achieved 90 percent accuracy in recreating the quality of the enigmatic woman's speaking tone. "I am the Mona Lisa. My true identity is shrouded in mystery," the portrait proclaims on a Web site. "In Mona Lisa's case, the lower part of her face is quite wide and her chin is pointed, " Suzuki explained. "The extra volume means a relatively low voice, while the pointed chin adds mid-pitch tones" he added. The scientists brought in an Italian woman to add the necessary intonation to the voice. "We then had to think about what to have her say," Suzuki said. "We tried having her speak Japanese, but it didn't suit her image." Experts disagree over who was represented in the portrait, with some saying the smiling woman is Leonardo himself, or his mother. The team also attempted to recreate Leonardo's own voice in a project timed to coincide with the release of the film " The Da Vinci Code. " Suzuki said he was less confident about its accuracy because he had to work from self-portraits where the artist wore a beard, concealing  the shape of his face. Suzuki's work has contributions to criminal investigations -- in one case after he successfully aged a person's voice by a decade. A recording of the voice was broadcast on television, leading to the apprehension of a suspect .

我们不能解谜蒙娜丽莎的神秘微笑，但托日本声学家的福，我们也许能够听到她的声音。 蒙娜丽莎是达芬奇著名的十六世纪肖像画。铃木松美博士通过画中人物的脸和手估计出的身高并制作了一个头骨模型。她通常使用这项技术协助犯罪调查。 上周铃木在东京办公室里接受路透社采访时说道：“一旦我们做出头骨模型，就能模拟出头骨主人的声音”。 我们已经重现许多名人的声音，而且这些声音与真人的声音相差无几，这项技术已经运用到电影配音中。 每个人的声音波形图，即声纹，是独一无二的。铃木说他相信在重现这位神秘女士的声音上，已经达到90%的相似率。 你可以在一家网站上听到画中人物说：“我就是蒙娜丽莎，我的真实身份隐藏在神秘面纱下”。 铃木解释道：“蒙娜丽莎的腮部很宽，但是下巴很尖。这些突出的声音曲线表示她的声音比较低沉，但是尖下巴可以加入一些中音。”因此，科学家找到了一位意大利女士为声音加入必要的声调。 铃木说：“然后我们要考虑让她说点什么。 我们让她讲了几句日语，但太不符合她的形象了。” 专家们对画像里要表现的人物持有歧义，一些人说微笑的女人其实就是达芬奇本人，或是他的母亲。 小组曾试图在电影《达芬奇密码》上映的同时，重现达芬奇的声音。铃木说他当时不太有信心，因为唯一能做为参考的自画像中的达芬奇留有胡须，看不出他的面部的轮廓。 铃木的研究为犯罪调查做出了不少贡献。他成功模拟了一个人十年后的声音。通过在电视中播出模拟的声音，警察最终逮捕了嫌疑犯。（中国国际广播电台 译）