Mona Lisa, in the footsteps of Leonardo da Vinci
Portrait of Lisa Gherardini known as La Joconde or Mona Lisa
Oil on oak panel
74 x 52 cm
Sold €273,000
The appeal of the Mona Lisa remains as strong today, both for the public, who continue to make their way to the Louvre, as well as artists who, century after century, take inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci, whether in a respectful or iconoclastic manner, but always with unfailing fidelity. Accounts from the 16th and 17th century reveal a unanimous admiration for the famous portrait, a version of which will be auctioned by Artcurial on 9th November.
These particular stylistic characteristics, along with the use of oak as the support, enable the execution of this version to be dated around 1600. Its faithfulness to the original and the intelligence of the reproduction suggest that the artist may have had access to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and been able to examine it carefully. It seems reasonable to imagine that this skilfully painted and sensitive copy could have been painted in the same environment as the Mona Lisa, that had been acquired by François I: at Fontainebleau itself, where, under the reign of Henri IV, talented artists from the so-called second school of Fontainebleau gravitated.
This copy of the masterpiece, which is a “distillation of Western art”, according to Matthieu Fournier, Director of the Old Master & 19th Century Art department, will be exhibited in October in Vienna and Brussels, and from 5th to 8th November in Paris.