Important finding in a copy of La Gioconda

MADRID .- During a process of restoring your copy of the famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci "La Gioconda", the Prado Museum in Madrid discovered that his work was done in the workshop of the Italian humanist while the original painting.

Sources of the museum said Monday the agency EFE that the restorers found under the black background of the picture, added later, the same Tuscan landscape than the "Mona Lisa" Louvre, and being this copy in better condition sheds light on the enigmatic painting of Lisa Gherardini and its iconic smile.

The discovery of this copy has been certified not only by the Prado, but also by the museum of the Louvre in Paris.

The conclusion that this copy of "La Gioconda" was painted simultaneously in the same workshop Da Vinci was obtained by discovering, through infra-red reflectography that the corrections are almost exact copy of the Da Vinci did, what suggesting that the disciple saw the process of creating the work and made the same changes as his teacher.

WHO MADE ​​IT?

The work had always been dated in the first third of the sixteenth century, contemporary with the work of Da Vinci, but now the ownership is divided between two students closer to the painter Andrea Salai and Francesco Melzi.

Before this restoration was believed that the copy of The Prado had been painted on oak, which dismissed as the copy was executed in Italy. Now, however, was known to be walnut, like the real Mona Lisa. The dimensions of both works are very similar: the 76x57cm 77x53cm El Prado and the original.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DISCOVERY

Since the Madrid museum make clear that your copy of "La Gioconda" was not in a store, but it hung for years in the walls of the museum and had undergone a restoration routine. , And describe the discovery of "very scientific" and very important for historians of art.

The discovery, which will be officially launched on February 21, travel to the exhibition at the Louvre prepared on "Santa Ana" in Leonardo, scheduled between 29 March and 25 June, so that the Mona Lisa "twin" will meet