Earliest copy of Mona Lisa found in Prado

[Ichingcarpenter]

Experts say the painting was completed at the same time as Leonardo’s A copy of the Mona Lisa has been discovered in the Prado which was painted in Leonardo’s studio—created side by side with the original that now hangs in the Louvre. This sensational find will transform our understanding of the world’s 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 Leonardo’s death had actually been painted by one of his key pupils, working alongside the master. The picture is more than just a studio copy—it changed as Leonardo developed his original composition.






Snip.....


Mottin proposes that it was either Andrea Salai, who originally joined Leonardo’s 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]

1. such loveliness thank you so much

[CTyankee]

2. wow. this one has eyebrows..

[tabasco]

3. She's hotter in this one.

Cute Italian babe.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. Enter RIAA, stage left.

[carla]

5. Such terrible reporting.

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!...