Before Mona Lisa. The first painting by Leonardo da Vinci

Intriguing scientific research on the twin of the world’s most famous portrait!

Photo taken by the author inside the Exhibition.

At first glance she looks younger, though she wears the same dark dress that makes her hands and face stand out. The cheeks seem rounder and the whole sweeter. With those dark, enigmatic eyes she has been watching us for over 500 years. And she seems to follow us wherever in the room we move.

Photo taken by the author inside the exhibition.

You are admiring the First Mona Lisa, called “The Mona Lisa of Isleworth.” This December 2023 it is located at the headquarters of the Società Promotrice delle Belle Arti in Turin, Italy, inside the Valentino Park.

This painting depicts the same Florentine woman Lisa del Giocondo, who became famous as Mona Lisa, and was supposedly made about ten years before the iconic “Mona Lisa” in the Louvre.

Did you know that there was a painting almost identical to the Mona Lisa preserved in the Louvre?

That painters of the past created multiple copies of the same subject is common knowledge. And Leonardo da Vinci was no different, as evidenced by versions of…