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Earlier Mona Lisa: Something to smile about

SINGAPORE — Her enigmatic smile has captured the imagination of many people around the world, but perhaps one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the Mona Lisa has now been officially unveiled: Its creator, Leonardo da Vinci, had painted an earlier version of the famous one found in the Louvre Museum.

The 'Earlier Mona Lisa' painting, which was believed to be 10 years younger than the one in the Louvre Museum, has further evidence supporting its attribution to Leonardo Da Vinci. It is presented to the general public for the first tiime in Singapore at The Arts House at the Old Parliment.

The 'Earlier Mona Lisa' painting, which was believed to be 10 years younger than the one in the Louvre Museum, has further evidence supporting its attribution to Leonardo Da Vinci. It is presented to the general public for the first tiime in Singapore at The Arts House at the Old Parliment.

SINGAPORE — Her enigmatic smile has captured the imagination of many people around the world, but perhaps one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the Mona Lisa has now been officially unveiled: Its creator, Leonardo da Vinci, had painted an earlier version of the famous one found in the Louvre Museum.

The controversial painting is the centrepiece of a new interactive exhibition at The Arts House titled Leonardo da Vinci’s Earlier Mona Lisa. The exhibition, presented by the Zurich-based Mona Lisa Foundation, follows the release in 2012 of the results of 35-year research process to ascertain the painting’s authenticity.

It is believed that da Vinci had painted this earlier version — originally nicknamed the Isleworth Mona Lisa when it was rediscovered in 1913 by an English art curator — between 1503 and 1506, a good 10 years before the iconic version of his portrait of Lisa del Giocondo was finished in 1513.

Jean-Pierre Isbouts, an art historian and author of The Mona Lisa Myth, described the painting as the “missing link” between the early and mature da Vinci painting styles. Upon first seeing the early version, Isbouts said he was “absolutely floored”, having been struck by the pristine quality and “intense luminosity of the face”.

“There was absolutely no question I was looking at a Leonardo,” he said.

Isbouts pointed out that this is not a copy or a duplicate of the Louvre painting, citing the slight differences in the size of the painting as well as the proportion of the figure to the landscape. He added that the seeming consensus among experts has been “unprecedented”. “What’s striking is that 24 of 27 recognised Leonardo scholars have agreed this is a Leonardo,” he said.

According to the foundation’s president, Markus Frey, the discovery has admittedly had its fair share of critics when they revealed their 320-page book summarising its findings two years ago. Before the publication of the book, he said “art historians were struggling with the inconsistencies”.

“The knee-jerk reaction of the art establishment was to reject the foundation’s conclusion. But in the face of hard facts, even art connoisseurs must give in,” said Frey, who added that the foundation took a scientific approach in its analysis, which included X-ray tests, carbon dating, among others.

One of the very first scientists to conduct the tests was John Asmus, a physicist at the University Of California, San Diego, who had also worked on scientific analysis for the terracotta warriors in Xi’an, the cave paintings in Lascaux, and paintings by Rembrandt. He examined the “digital fingerprint” of the artists of the two Mona Lisas to determine similarities and came to the conclusion that the two paintings were done by the same person.

“I was stunned. The conformity was more precise (than that of the portraits of Rembrandt). It then triggered a long string of tests,” he recounted.

The exhibition is making its world premier in Singapore before going to Hong Kong and China next year as part of an Asian, and subsequently, worldwide tour. The foundation’s general secretary, Joel Feldman, said Singapore was a good “English-speaking gateway” to debut the show and to travel around Asia, noting that when the findings were released in 2012, it had caused a stir in Europe but had little coverage in Asia.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Earlier Mona Lisa runs until Feb 11, 2015 at The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane. Tickets at S$20 from SISTIC and The Arts House.

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