But now, a new contender has emerged, raising questions about art history and sparking a fierce debate among experts. This recently discovered portrait, dubbed the \u00abOther Mona Lisa,\u00bb bears an uncanny resemblance to Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s masterpiece, but with subtle variations that have the art world buzzing.\n

The Prado\u2019s\u00a0Mona Lisa\n\n
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A restored Mona Lisa copy at Madrid\u2019s Prado is no longer just a copy! It\u2019s a contemporary version, possibly created alongside the original in da Vinci\u2019s studio. Scholars believe both paintings were created side by side, possibly in da Vinci\u2019s Florentine workshop, as the composition for the famous masterpiece was developed between 1503 and 1506.\n
The \u00abOther Mona Lisa\u00bb isn\u2019t entirely new. Madrid\u2019s Museo del Prado has actually held a copy of the Mona Lisa since its founding in 1819. This work, however, was long dismissed as a mere copy among the many replicas created in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its fate changed dramatically in 2011.\n
Unveiled at a recent London conference alongside a Leonardo exhibition, a restored Mona Lisa replica at Madrid\u2019s Prado offers fresh insights. This \u00abreplica\u00bb may hold details better preserved than the Louvre\u2019s original!\n
Intrigued by its potential age, the Louvre Museum requested the Prado\u2019s Mona Lisa for an exhibition. A restoration project revealed a treasure trove of secrets. Beneath layers of dark varnish, conservators discovered an underdrawing remarkably similar to preparatory sketches for the original Mona Lisa. Further analysis confirmed the painting dated back to the first quarter of the sixteenth century, making it the earliest known copy.\n
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Once dismissed as\u00a0a\u00a0copy, the Prado\u2019s\u00a0Mona Lisa\u00a0became a\u00a0window into da\u00a0Vinci\u2019s genius.\n\n
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This revelation transformed the Prado\u2019s\u00a0Mona Lisa\u00a0from a\u00a0forgotten copy to\u00a0a\u00a0hidden peephole into da\u00a0Vinci\u2019s creative process. Infrared reflectography and radiography unveiled the underdrawing, identical in\u00a0structure but executed in\u00a0a\u00a0different style, hinting at\u00a0the apprentice\u2019s hand. The copy faithfully reproduces the figure\u2019s size and shape, suggesting the use of\u00a0tracing from the original.\n
However, the Prado\u2019s\u00a0Mona Lisa\u00a0lacks the master\u2019s touch. While the composition is\u00a0meticulously copied, it\u00a0lacks da\u00a0Vinci\u2019s signature sfumato technique, resulting in\u00a0a\u00a0sharper, less subtle image.\n\n
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It\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0workshop twin of\u00a0the original.\n\n
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Previously, the Prado Museum\u2019s Mona Lisa replica was thought to be painted on oak by a Northern European artist, possibly Flemish, according to an art historian. However, in 2011, an examination revealed the painting was actually on walnut, a material commonly used in Italy \u2014 just like the original Mona Lisa\u2019s poplar wood support. Interestingly, the sizes are also very similar: the Louvre\u2019s original is 77 cm x 53 cm, while the Prado\u2019s copy measures 76 cm x 57 cm.\n
The hidden landscape wasn\u2019t the only surprise. When researchers compared the infrared reflectography results of the Prado copy with those from the original Mona Lisa (examined in 2004), they discovered an even more significant detail. The underdrawing of the replica matched the unfinished stages of the original Mona Lisa.\n
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A\u00a0friend or\u00a0foe?\n\n
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The Prado\u2019s Mona Lisa offers a unique perspective. The original\u2019s varnish has yellowed and cracked with age, altering the colors. The Prado copy, however, offers a glimpse of the painting\u2019s original vibrancy. Furthermore, the hidden underdrawing reveals changes da Vinci made during the creation process, changes mirrored in the Prado copy.\n
In essence, the Prado\u2019s Mona Lisa is a time capsule, taking us back to da Vinci\u2019s workshop and offering insights unavailable from the original alone. Whether this makes it a \u00abfriend\u00bb or \u00abfoe\u00bb depends on your perspective. But one thing is certain \u2014 this stunning portrait has reignited the conversation surrounding one of history\u2019s most iconic paintings.\n
The \u00abOther Mona Lisa\u00bb leaves us wondering about the secrets hidden within paintings. But what if we could see iconic figures from history walk among us today? In our next article, we\u2019ll use technology to age some of the most famous faces of the past, revealing what they might look like if they were alive today!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
But now, a new contender has emerged, raising questions about art history and sparking a fierce debate among experts. This recently discovered portrait, dubbed the \u00abOther Mona Lisa,\u00bb bears an uncanny resemblance to Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s masterpiece, but with subtle variations that have the art world buzzing. The Prado\u2019s\u00a0Mona Lisa A restored Mona Lisa copy …\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":73635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73636,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73630\/revisions\/73636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}