The Mystery of the ‘Nude Mona Lisa’
PARIS — In the Louvre’s basements, experts have been scrutinizing a drawing with one question on their minds: Could this semi-naked, mysteriously smiling lady be a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci?
The Monna Vanna — or “nude Mona Lisa” as the charcoal drawing is nicknamed — has been attributed to Leonardo’s studio since the 20th century, but questions have lingered about the Renaissance master’s contribution.
The 71-by- 53- centimeter drawing has been held since 1862 at the Condé Museum, in the palace of Chantilly, north of Paris. Scientists are now trying to establish who drew it, ahead of an exhibition that is scheduled to open there in 2019 to celebrate the 500-year anniversary of Leonardo’s death.
Mathieu Deldicque, the Condé Museum’s deputy curator, said an analysis by a dozen experts had showed so far that the Monna Vanna could either be a drawing by one of Leonardo’s students, or one in which he himself had participated. “If Leonardo participated, it’s not for all the drawing, but for some parts of it,” he said.
The sketch was originally attributed to Leonardo when the Duc d’Aumale, the son of France’s last king, Louis- Philippe, bought it in 1862 for the Condé Museum. But analyses in the early 20th century led experts to the view that one of his students had drawn it. The museum decided to conduct tests after new research.
“Very often, drawings are resumed, completed, transformed,” said Patrick de Bayser, an expert in old drawings who works at the Galerie de Bayser in Paris and helps auctioneers value these drawings.
Mr. de Bayser, who helped discover a Leonardo sketch of St. Sebastian in 2016, said that testing would help uncover more details about each layer, and help determine whether the original one was from Leonardo’s own hand.
Scientists have dated the Monna Vanna to around the start of the 16th century, which matches the lifetime of Leonardo. Analyses have also showed that the paper used for the drawing was from the area between Florence and Venice.
But a Louvre conservation expert, Bruno Mottin, told the newspaper Le Parisien that he would be cautious about attributing the Monna Vanna to the Italian painter. “The hatching on the top of the drawing near the head was done by a right- handed person,” Mr. Mottin said, adding that Leonardo was left-handed.
Around 20 paintings of nude women that resemble Mona Lisa are held in museums. After the analyses, the Monna Vanna is scheduled to be returned to the Condé Museum, where curators want to borrow some of these other paintings from museums in Germany, Italy and Russia, for the 2019 exhibition.
“So many students of Leonardo have painted naked Mona Lisas or written about it, that we are almost certain that Leonardo painted one,” Mr. Deldicque said.
He added, “At least both the Louvre’s Mona Lisa and the naked Mona Lisa have one thing in common: They will always keep a lot of mysteries.”
A drawing that may be from the hands of Leonardo.