400-year-old copy of Mona Lisa to be auctioned in Paris

• 17th-century copy of famous Leonardo da Vinci’ Mona Lisa is heading for Paris auction block.
• The fateful copy of da Vinci’s masterpiece is expected to fetch 150,000-200,000 euros.
• Another 17th-century copy of Mona Lisa sold for 2.9 million euros in June at Christie’s in Paris.

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Artcurial auction house in Paris, France announced that a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa dating from around 1600 will be auctioned on Tuesday.

A faithful copy of da Vinci’s masterpiece dating from more than 400 years ago will go under the hammer just months after another reproduction of one of the world’s most iconic painting sold for a record price.

Leonardo da Vinci’s original, which French King Francois I bought from the painter in 1518, is on display in Paris’s Louvre museum and is not for sale.

Mona Lisa‘s copy set to be sold in Paris is so similar to the original that it is likely that the artist had close access to Leonardo’s version, the Artcurial auction house said.

“Mona Lisa is the most beautiful woman in painting,” Artcurial auction house expert and auctioneer, Matthieu Fournier, said as the painting went on public display ahead of the sale.

“Everyone wants to own a high-quality version of Mona Lisa.”

The copy is expected to fetch 150,000-200,000 euros ($173,000-$230,000).

Last June, a European collector bought another 17th-century copy of Mona Lisa for 2.9 million euros ($3.35 million), a record for a reproduction of the work, at an auction at Christie’s in Paris.

And in 2017, Christie’s New York sold Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi for a record-breaking $450 million.