The Prado museum in Spain has an early replica of Leonardo's Mona Lisa. After cleaning and restoration, they now believe it was painted by one of Leonardo's pupils, probably alongside Leonardo as he painted the original. The experts think this is huge, because the better-preserved and restored copy gives a glimpse of what the original looked like when it was painted.
I, not being an expert, am fascinated by two other questions: was this a normal practice, to have pupils copy your work as you were painting it? And if the two paintings were made simultaneously of the same subject, is Leonardo's necessarily more "original" than the pupil's? Or does Leonardo get OP (Original Painter) status because he's the master?
Click here for the interactive feature.
Bonus: have you ever just done a Google Image search for "Mona Lisa"? There's some funny stuff.
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