The claims by some “scholars”, who notably have neither seen the painting, nor ever documented anything like the exhaustive research I undertook, that the ‘Earlier Version of Mona Lisa’ was concocted by some “copyist”, are nothing more than the product of “willful ignorance”.

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The subsequent book, a lavishly illustrated 320-page volume, has helped to create an awareness of this painting that had not previously existed. The contents, and the quality of the printing, have been universally praised. The ‘Washington Times’ called it “a masterpiece” in its own right.

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This book is about the earlier version of ‘Mona Lisa’ that Leonardo da Vinci painted prior to executing the portrait now in the Louvre.

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Years of dedicated historical research have traced this painting from its origins in Leonardo’s studio, in Florence at the beginning of the 16th Century, through to the present day.

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Furthermore, a battery of scientific and technical tests, including the most up-to-date multispectral imaging, as well as intense historical research, serve to advance the authenticity of this masterpiece.

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This book now presents the comprehensive History, Science and Expertise, and reveals, after 500 years in relative obscurity, the stunning earlier version of the ‘Mona Lisa’ by Leonardo da Vinci.

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This book:

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• demonstrates that Leonardo da Vinci painted two portraits of ‘Mona Lisa’

• peels away the layers of confusion about the histories that separate the two paintings.

• clarifies who commissioned the two portraits, and why.

• logically identifies the sitter in both paintings.

• describes the inevitable comparisons between the earlier version and its sister in the Louvre.

• exposes the influence of this earlier version of ‘Mona Lisa’ upon Raphael and other artists.

• relates some of the turmoil and events in Leonardo’s life at that time.

• outlines hundreds of other fascinating and relevant details, set against the panoramic backdrop of Renaissance Italy.