A new discovery representing what is thought to be the earliest known copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa will definitely change people’s view regarding world’s most famous picture. The sensational finding was made at Prado, Spain’s National Art Museum in Madrid, and it is believed that the imitation was painted alongside the original by one of Leonardo’s pupils.
“This sensational find will transform our understanding of the world’s most famous picture,” said Art Newspaper which first published the extraordinary findings. “It gives a much more vivid impression of her enticing eyes and enigmatic smile,” the newspaper stated.
The Prado painting, that was accepted by experts at both Spain’s National Art Museum and the Louvre, was long believed to be one of dozens surviving replicas of the masterpiece made after Leonardo’s death. However, it is now thought that this has been painted by one of da Vinci’s key pupils working alongside the master in the same studio.
Even though experts said at the beginning that Prado’s Mona Lisa has been painted long after da Vinci’s death due to the fact that it lay under a coat of black paint, a more detailed expertise suggests that the newly-discovered painting has been made at the same time as Leonardo’s original. The Prado said the restoration had been carried out over the past few months in preparation for an exhibition at the Louvre in March. ”There is much more to see. The process of conservation is still going on, we have not finished.”
Photo courtesy of Museo Nacional del Prado
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