The Mona Lisa is considered to be one of the most famous paintings in today’s world, with just about any person knowing exactly what painting is being talked about. The image is ingrained, at least vaguely, into every educated mind. Painted by Da Vinci in the early 1500s, it was made famous when it was stolen from the Louvre in 1911. After being involved in such a scandal, it was brought closer to the public just as critics began to call it a masterpiece. As with any famous work of art, the Mona Lisa was copied quite a bit. Many copies were, however, produced long before it was famous. These were produced during the lifespan of Da Vinci himself, with the creators being his students. One such copy is said to have been painted right alongside …show more content…
The original Mona Lisa was either sold directly to France in 1518 along with other paintings or it was held onto by one of Da Vinci’s pupils until 1525, travelled around to different locations, until it ended up being on permanent display at the Louvre. The copy was painted at the same time as the original and somehow ended up on display at the Museo del Prado in Italy. It was displayed alongside renowned paintings for seemingly no reason. The only significant difference between the copy and the original was that the copy had a black background instead of a landscape. Testing was able to confirm that the copy was made at the same time as the original with a different …show more content…
This varnish can grow old and turn change from being clear. As it ages, it tints a yellowish-green color and has trouble making details clear. Thankfully, varnish is easily removed and reapplied with no damage to the underlying painting. This process is called restoring. Both the original Mona Lisa and the copy were varnished, but there was a problem with the original. While the copy was completed, varnished, and then most likely sold, the original was worked on by Da Vinci for years until 1517. Da Vinci would also simply paint over the previous layer of varnish and then apply another layer to seal in the corrections and changes he had made. This is the reason the original Mona Lisa cannot be restored. Restoring the painting would lose all of the corrections made. The copy was easily restored, losing its black background in the process. It was then revealed that the same landscape in Da Vinci’s also existed in the copy and had been covered by the black paint sometime before