You didn `t see it coming! Mona Lisa has a twin sister; know more

Surely you know the Mona Lisa, right? This is the character of the most famous painting of leonard da vinci and owner of the most enigmatic smile in history. Who you may not know is the “twin sister” of Mona Lisa.

Read more: The day the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre

While the most famous sister stays in the Louvre Museum, in Paris, the other is in the Museo del Prado, in Madrid. She has been in Spanish lands for a long, long time. It belongs to the Spanish museum since 1819, but before that, it was part of the art collection of the country's monarchy.

Its oldest record dates from 1666, but it is more likely that it arrived in Spain much earlier.

Is the Mona Lisa's twin sister the work of Da Vinci?

So… Until 2012 it was believed so. This year, the Prado's Mona Lisa underwent a meticulous restoration process, and would be sent to Paris for an exhibition on Leonardo Da Vinci. However, when restorers began to look closely at the work, they noticed some discrepancies.

After the evaluation, it was concluded that the painting was not by Leonardo, but by one of the painter's disciples. And there is no consensus on this. Although some researchers say the work was probably by Salai or Melzi, two of the students favorites of the painter, others argue that there is a greater chance that the painting was made by a disciple Spanish.

On the left, Mona Lisa do Prado; on the right, her famous sister (Photo: Disclosure).

So is it a copy?

Yes, we can conclude that this is the oldest known copy of the Mona Lisa. However, it is a xerox with some “artistic freedoms”, since it brings some details that Leonardo Da Vinci's painting does not have.

The Mona Lisa's twin sister gives more details of the background landscape and shows a little of the arm of the chair on which she rests her hands. Also, there are more ornaments on your garments.

Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.