Experts at the Madrid Prado Museum have revealed a stunning find for the art world. According to officials researchers have discovered a painting in their vaults that was long thought to be a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa masterpiece but is in fact work completed by a copyist who worked alongside Leonardo da Vinci as he was painting the original masterpiece.
According to the Guardian the painting sat in the museums vault for years and wasn’t discovered under conservators removed black over-painting to reveal a background similar to the original.
While the original Mona Lisa is covered in layers of dirt and varnish it will probably never be cleaned because of it’s priceless value, however the copyist piece can be fully restored to reveal a more “complete” examination of what the Mona Lisa likely looked like when first conceived by the brush strokes of Leonardo da Vinci.
An expert who examined the copy told the Guardian:
“Now we’re seeing something that’s much closer to Leonardo’s original,” and “We’re looking at Lisa almost eye to eye, we can see her enticing eyes and enigmatic smile much more clearly. It makes her look much younger and more attractive than the rather more aged version of Lisa that we see in the Louvre.”
Whether the colors used in the background and other features closely resemble the state originally intended for Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa will never be fully known but either way it’s a unique chance to examine what is likely the world’s closest examination of the original paintings state.
