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A European collector has bought a 17th century copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting for 2.9 million euros ($3.4 million), a record for a Mona Lisa reproduction, in an auction at Christie's in Paris on Friday. Known as the "Hekking Mona Lisa," after its owner who unsuccessfully argued that a copy he had bought in the 1950s was the real thing, is one of many reproductions of the original, which hangs in the Paris Louvre museum. "This is madness, this is an absolute record for a Mona Lisa reproduction," a Christie's spokeswoman said. She said there had been...

LEONARDO DA VINCI's masterpiece the Mona Lisa has captivated art lovers for centuries - but now, a scientist who analysed every inch and layer of the famous portrait has discovered hidden details beneath the painter's brushstrokes.The early 16th Century painting is arguably one of da Vinci’s most famous works and currently resides in the Louvre, in Paris. It’s estimated that 80 percent of their annual 10.2 million visitors attend to see the Mona Lisa. Scientist Pascal Cotte was asked to digitise the painting using a specialist camera, which was able to capture hidden layers beneath the portrait. From his multispectral...

The Italian government on Wednesday said police had seized more than 5,000 ancient artefacts in a record 45-million-euro haul after dismantling a Swiss-Italian trafficking ring. Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said it was the country's "largest discovery yet" of looted works and consisted of 5,361 pieces, including vases, jewellery, frescoes and bronze statues, all dating from the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD. The archaeological treasures came from illegal digs across Italy and "will be returned to where they were found", the minister told reporters. Police said the items were worth around 45 million euros ($52 million) and were...

Leonardo da Vinci painted a younger and happier Mona Lisa some 10 years before painting the famous painting, art experts are claiming. Slightly larger in size than the famous portrait,‭ ‬which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris,‭ ‬the painting features‭ ‬a darker tonality,‭ ‬a different and unfinished background framed by two columns,‭ ‬and‭ ‬shows a younger lady with a less enigmatic smile. Known as the Isleworth Mona Lisa,‭ ‬the artwork will be unveiled in Geneva on Thursday by the Mona Lisa Foundation,‭ ‬a Zurich‭-based consortium which has‭ ‬kept the painting in a Swiss bank vault for‭ ‬40‭ ‬years....

PARIS (Reuters) - Scientists are due to unveil some of the secrets behind Western art's most enigmatic smile this week, when they present the findings of the most extensive three dimensional scan ever undertaken on the Mona Lisa. Leonardo da Vinci's 16th century masterpiece, perhaps the world's most famous painting, is considered a milestone in the art of portraiture and an icon of European culture. A comprehensive examination of the work, painted at some time around 1503-06, was undertaken in 2004, using special 3D technology developed by scientists from Canada's National Research Council (NRC). The scientists scanned the picture on...

The Zurich-based Mona Lisa Foundation said today that it has evidence that a painting that first came to light in the late 1800s is an early "Mona Lisa" also done by Leonard Da Vinci. Known as the "Isleworth Mona Lisa," the painting is a "portrait of a young woman with an enigmatic smile" much like the famous work of art in The Louvre, as The Associated Press writes. The foundation, which was created for the specific purpose of researching the history of the "early Mona Lisa," says it believes the painting was created 11 or 12 years before the more...