Earliest copy of Mona Lisa found in Prado
Experts say the painting was completed at the same time as Leonardos A copy of the Mona Lisa has been discovered in the Prado which was painted in Leonardos studiocreated side by side with the original that now hangs in the Louvre. This sensational find will transform our understanding of the worlds most famous picture.
Conservators at the Prado in Madrid recently made an astonishing discovery, hidden beneath black overpaint. What was assumed to be a replica of the Mona Lisa made after Leonardos death had actually been painted by one of his key pupils, working alongside the master. The picture is more than just a studio copyit changed as Leonardo developed his original composition.
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Mottin proposes that it was either Andrea Salai, who originally joined Leonardos studio in 1490 and probably became his lover, or Francesco Melzi, who joined around 1506. If the Prado replica is eventually attributed to Melzi, it suggests a late date for the original.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/01/new-mona-lisa-prado
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)CTyankee
(63,912 posts)tabasco
(22,974 posts)Cute Italian babe.
RUMMYisFROSTED
(30,749 posts)carla
(553 posts)Tell me how it is an earlier replica? Replica is a copy. If it is contemporary with Leonardos work, or later then it can be seen as a replica (assuming Leonardo was being copied). To think this was written by a Brit...empires melt slowly, GB is the example of how rotten it can get before it goes pffffft!...