A new University of British Columbia study claims to have uncovered the secret behind the enduring legacy of Rembrandt's paintings.

UBC researcher Steve DiPaola argues in the current issue of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's arts and sciences journal Leonardo that the 17th-Century Dutch painter mastered an eye-guiding technique, creating a "calming" experience for a viewer.

This leaves viewers with a powerful feeling of relaxation, which may contribute to the Rembrandt's lasting reputation as a master painter, DiPaola believes.

Using computer modeling analysis, the researchers showed how Rembrandt may have been the first to develop "centre of focus" techniques to engage a viewer.

"Through these techniques, Rembrandt is essentially playing tour guide to his viewers hundreds of years after his death, creating a unique narrative by guiding the viewers' eye," DiPaola said in a new release. "This may explain why people appreciate portraiture as an art form."

To isolate what made Rembrandt's portraits so successful, DiPaola used rendering programs to recreate four of the painter's most famous works. He then placed sharper focus on specific areas of the model's faces in the portraits, such as their eyes.

Working the Vision Lab in the UBC's Dept. of Psychology, the study then tracked viewers' eye movements as they studied the original photographs and the Rembrandt-like portraits.

"When viewing the Rembrandt-like portraits, viewers fixated on the detailed eye faster and stayed there for longer periods of time, resulting in calmer eye movements," DiPaola said. "The transition from sharp to blurry edges, known as ‘lost and found edges,' also directed the viewers eyes around the portrait in a sort of narrative."

Rembrandt mastered a technique that took scientists hundreds of years to fully understand, DiPaola said.

"Whether he observed how his own eyes behaved while viewing a painting or if he did it by intuition, Rembrandt incorporated an understanding of how the human eye works that has since been proven accurate," he said.