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A EUROPEAN collector bought a 17th-century copy of the Monalisa from Leonardo da Vinci for 2.9 million euros, a record for a reproduction of the Monalisa, at an auction at Christie’s Paris recently.
Known as the ‘Hekking Monalisa’, named after the painting’s owner who tried to convince people that the copy of the 1950s painting, he had was the real thing, this painting is one of many reproductions of the original Monalisa on display at Paris’ Louvre museum.
“This is incredible, it’s a record for a reproduction of the Monalisa,” said a Christie’s spokesperson.
He said there were 14 bidders at the international auction and in the last hour, bids rose from 500,000 to 2.4 million euros, before a final price of 2.9 million euros.
The original Mona Lisa in the Louvre is not for sale. But in 2017, Christie’s New York sold da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ for $450 million to an unidentified telephone bidder, making it the most expensive piece of art sold at auction. [antaranews]
