Da Vinci may have drawn nude Mona Lisa, say experts

EXPERTS have suggested that Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci may have been the man behind a drawing of a “topless Mona Lisa”.

Scientists in Paris have been studying a charcoal drawing of a woman, which until now was believed to have been drawn by a Da Vinci student.

The drawing, titled Joconde Nue, shows a topless woman who bears a striking resemblance to the Mona Lisa that hangs in the Louvre, Paris.

Experts there have concluded, after weeks of tests, that the charcoal drawing was “at least in part” actually done by Da Vinci himself.

The drawing has been kept in the Conde Museum in Chantilly to the north of Paris ever since it was bought by the Duc d’aumale in 1862 for 7,000 francs, considered to be a substantial sum at the time (around £600,000 today).

But it’s only now that scientists have spoken out about the chance that Da Vinci’s hand was behind both artworks. They pointed out that both the body and the hands of the women in the two pieces are remarkably similar.

They also noted that the two pieces

are very close in size, with the charcoal drawing featuring pierced holes, suggesting it may have been used as a backdrop to trace a second image.

Bruno Mottin, a conservation expert at the Louvre, said: “It is a very difficult drawing to work on because it is particularly fragile.”

Museum curators hope to have the answer as to who drew the woman before the 500-year anniversary of Da Vinci’s death, which will be in 2019.