LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Smither has joined a research team that is trying to shed light on one of the art world's oldest mysteries.

Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci reportedly produced the large painting in 1505 in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. No such artwork can be seen there with the naked eye. The location of the mural, which depicts four horsemen in battle, has remained a mystery for more than five-hundred years.

An international research team first used traditional methods.

"They made a hole in the fresco, and they thought they saw some paint, and then they made a bigger hole," Smither says. "The Italian government has been very hesitant to let people start putting more holes in different places, so that's why we've been asked to try to do this without touching the wall."

Terry Garcia, executive vice president of Mission Programs for the National Geographic Society says that the holes produced evidence of organic materials consistent with paint used by da Vinci, leading researchers to believe the lost mural is there.

"All of the work, all of the holes that were put into the mural, were either in areas that had been previously restored or fissures, so the original Vasari was not touched," Garcia says.

Even if Smither can safely determine the mural is there, would da Vinci's "Battle of Anghiari" ever see light of day without damaging the Vasari fresco standing in front of it? Smither says yes, although it will take time and money to do it properly.

"This is a long time ago -- 1505, 1565 when it was covered up -- [so] we don't know what shape it's in," he says.

Smither hopes his crystal diffraction method will be able to peek behind the masterpiece to solve a mystery that has confounded art historians for centuries.

Smither says his skills have been used in unconventional ways many times before

"I get into astrophysics, I get into biology, I've actually worked with America's Cup team to make their boat go faster," he says.

He's also an expert in crystal diffraction, a precision x-ray process which filters neutron radiation through a lens to help create an image, just like a camera. The technique has given the human eye a new perspective on distant star systems, radioactivity hotpots around the world and cancerous tumors in the human body.

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