NEWS //

Spanish Museum Reveals Mona Lisa Copy

by Melanie Chamberlain

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci ©Oh Paris

Spain’s Prado Museum has a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa that was most likely painted alongside the master in the same studio.

The Mona Lisa immitation has been part of the Prado collection for years and has been displayed occasionally to the public but it wasn’t until last year, when the work was re-examined, that the importance of the painting was revealed. Layers of black overpaint were stripped away from the copy to reveal a much clearer image of the model than even the original DaVinci masterpiece, which has aged over the centuries.

Miguel Falomir, the Prado’s director for Italian painting, said that the newly restored copy gives both art lovers and art experts the chance,

“to admire the Mona Lisa with totally different eyes.”

There are dozens of surviving Mona Lisa replicas from the 16th and 17th centuries, but this particular painting is thought to be the earliest copy of the da Vinci masterpiece.

About the Author

Melanie Chamberlain is a coffee addict, cheap wine connoisseur and a semi-professional "real life" avoider. She blogs about her (mis)adventures traipsing around the world at girlwithgumption.com and overshares via twitter @grlwithgumption.