Nude 'Mona Lisa sketch' discovered in France
Experts say Leonardo da Vinci likely worked on the nude portrait
For more than 150 years, the Conde Museum at the Palace of Chantilly in France has kept hold of an ambiguous charcoal sketch.
Featuring a nude woman looking over her left shoulder, the artwork — known as Monna Vanna — has only ever been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci's studio.
Following tests at the Louvre Museum in Paris, one French art expert has claimed the famous artist himself likely worked “at least in part” on the sketch.
They also say the subject of Monna Vanna may very well have been Lisa Gherardini, the same woman the Mona Lisa is believed to portray.
"The drawing has a quality in the way the face and hands are rendered that is truly remarkable,” curator Mathieu Deldicque told AFP.
"It is not a pale copy. We are looking at something which was worked on in parallel with the Mona Lisa at the end of Leonardo's life. It is almost certainly a preparatory work for an oil painting.”
Deldicque said the main clues linking the two paintings are the almost identical hands, the portraits being the same size, and small holes on the canvas suggesting it may have been traced onto another canvas.
Another art expert, Bruno Mottin — the Louvre’s conservation expert — confirmed the sketch dates from da Vinci’s lifespan and was of "very high quality”.
The secret of Mona Lisa's smile revealed
Show all 5"We must remain prudent,” Deldicque added. "It is job that is going to take some time. It is a very difficult drawing to work on because it is particularly fragile."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies