PARIS — Behind closed doors in the Louvre’s basements, experts have been scrutinizing a drawing for weeks with one question on their minds: Could this semi-naked, mysteriously smiling lady that looks strikingly like the Mona Lisa be a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci?
The Monna Vanna — or “nude Mona Lisa” as the charcoal drawing is nicknamed — has been attributed to da Vinci’s studio since the 20th century, but questions have lingered about the extent of the Renaissance master’s contribution to the work.
The 28-by-21-inch drawing has been held since 1862 at the Condé Museum, in the palace of Chantilly, north of Paris. Scientists are now trying to establish exactly who drew it, ahead of an exhibition that is scheduled to open there in 2019 to celebrate the 500-year anniversary of the artist’s death.
Mathieu Deldicque, the Condé Museum’s deputy curator, said in a phone interview that an analysis performed by a dozen experts had showed so far that the Monna Vanna could either be a drawing by one of da Vinci’s students, or one in which he himself had participated.
“We are sure of nothing, and if Leonardo participated, it’s not for all the drawing, but for some parts of it,” Mr. Deldicque said. He added that although the drawing had a similar composition as that of the original Mona Lisa, exhibited at the Louvre, the Monna Vanna was a parallel art piece and that the two were distinct.
The sketch was originally attributed to da Vinci when the Duc d’Aumale, the son of France’s last king Louis-Philippe, bought it in 1862 for the Condé Museum’s collection.
But further analyses in the early 20th century led experts to…
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