Logo

Did Leonardo da Vinci paint two Mona Lisas? Where are they?

12.06.2025 04:07

Did Leonardo da Vinci paint two Mona Lisas? Where are they?

While overall similar, there are differences in the shape of the face, the background and other details.

Source: St Petersburg. Hermitage, Russia.

For the one below, art experts suggest that it contains touches indicating that Leonardo contributed to it.

Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady breaks down after heavy pitching load in Women's College World Series - AP News

Source: Chantilly, Musée Condé, France.

Obviously, the original Mona Lisa also inspired some cheeky versions of her.

Evidently there was a market for erotic paintings. The American art historian David Brown, curator of Italian Renaissance paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, has suggested that da Vinci painted a saucy parody of the Mona Lisa for his patron Giuliano de Medici, and that the Salai version is a copy.

After 12 Years of Failed Attempts, the Man Who Lost His Hard Drive Containing $742M in Bitcoin Finally Ends His Search - The Daily Galaxy

Then there are the ‘meza nuda’ paintings from his workshop, often referred to as Monna Vannas.

Source: Louvre, Paris, France.

La Joconde nue:

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is facing trial — and these eccentric sketch artists - The Washington Post

Donna Nuda:

There is only one Mona Lisa, at the Louvre, fully credited to Leonardo. However, there are several Mona Lisa look-alikes from his studio, some of them quite saucy. The one most similar to the Louvre one is the Prado Mona Lisa, a copy made simultaneously in Leonardo's workshop while he painted the Mona Lisa, probably made by an apprentice(s):

Another version of the above exists, attributed to Salaj:

OpenAI claims to have hit $10B in annual revenue - TechCrunch