Mona Lisa Copy

Posted by Suzanne Hill Jun 19, 2007

Recently I visited The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, to see the Renaissance paintings. I was enthralled with the jewel-like colors and the exquisite realistic detail in the madonnas with their babies.

I was especially taken with “Virgin Mary Reading” by Antonella da Messina (1430-1479), an early Renaissance master [I am unable to locate a replication of this work of art anywhere on the Internet to link to]. The picture is of a young Mary (before Jesus is born) seated alone with an open book on her lap. The painting is small but very intense: the paint sparkles with a rich shiny finish and the work is filled with the finest most elegant details from the tiny beads in Mary’s crown to the geometric folds in her white veil.

As I walked into one gallery, I espied the Mona Lisa smiling from an unceremonious perch above the doorway. I did a doubletake. The Mona Lisa? Here in the Walters in Baltimore?

I mentioned to the security guard that I had no idea the Walters possessed a copy of the Mona Lisa. He smiled and hastened to ensure I realized it was merely a copy.

He said the previous week they had placed their Mona Lisa in the center of the gallery and it had generated a lot of excitement among the museum visitors.

He also pointed out that this copy includes two columns – one on either side of “Madam Lisa,” the subject of the painting. He stated that the original artwork once also had these columns but was cut down in size and parts of the panel including these columns were removed, most likely to fit a frame.

I have also heard that the original painting has enough reserve around its edges and no evidence that paint has been cut in order to refute this theory. I suppose the debate surrounding this – one of the most famous paintings in the world and Leonardo’s magnum opus – will continue…..