The Prado Mona Lisa

The Prado Mona Lisa is a painting from the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci and represents the same subject and composition as Leonardo's better-known Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris. The Prado Mona Lisa has been in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain, since 1819, but it was considered for decades to be a relatively unimportant copy. Following its restoration in 2012, however, the Prado Mona Lisa has come to be understood as the oldest known workshop copy of Leonardo's masterpiece. It was discovered that it was painted at the same time as the Louvre Mona Lisa, likely by a direct disciple of Leonardo's workshop who worked alongside him.

One of the most surprising findings was that underneath the dark background lay the same landscape as in the Louvre original, confirming that both works were created simultaneously.

Unlike the Louvre version, the Prado painting features brighter colors and a better state of preservation, allowing viewers to appreciate the details of the face and clothing with greater clarity.

Today it is considered the most valuable and closest existing copy to the original, offering an exceptional window into understanding the working process in Leonardo’s workshop.