Leading authorities on Leonardo da Vinci say that he painted two Mona Lisas – one clothed, one naked. The model seems to have been a prostitute called La Cremona, who also modelled for Leonardo’s Leda and the Swan, stayed with Leonardo for many years and seems to have been with him when he died. The book investigates whether they were lovers. Leonardo’s students made copies of the nude. Other copies were made in Fontainebleau after Leonardo died in France. We know what happened to the clothed Mona Lisa. It’s in the Louvre. But what happened to Leonardo’s Mona Lisa Nude? Is it one of the ten nude Mona Lisas from the 15th and 16th centuries in reputable galleries and museums around the world? Or is it in someone’s attic? The book endeavours to find out.
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