MARILYN CORNWELL: Marilyn's Photos - Apr 2 2026

We are berserk over the Mona Lisa. I think we could say The Mona Lisa. It is the most studied painting in the world. Thousands of experts have formally analyzed, studied and scientifically examined the painting over its 500-year history.

There's ongoing research into its chemical composition, the possible medial diagnosis of the subject, the psychological effect of her smile by Freud, and the perception of her smile on study participants. Over 30,000 people view the painting every single day at the Louvre. That makes millions annually.

So when I see a headline that there are 3 Mona Lisas with a YouTube video by Russell Lee explaining them is HERE I paid attention. Given the video is an hour, I looked for some news articles to find out the story.

1. There's the Louvre Mona Lisa in Paris - it is the one that we all know.
2. The Prado Mona Lisa in Madrid, restored in 2012 and likely painted by a student in Leonardo's studio at the same time as the original. It is painted from a slightly different angle, so some researchers suggest the two together form the first 3D/stereoscopic image in history.
3. The Isleworth Mona Lisa in a private collection, known as the Earlier Mona Lisa, depicts a younger looking Mona Lisa. It is the most interesting of the two non-Louvre versions. There's a lot of work going into the analysis of whether Leonardo painted some or most of it.

The compelling attraction of this work to scientists is remarkable. One of the first descriptions of the work was in 1550, indicating its fascination to us.

In 2004 and 2005 an international team of 39 specialists did a thorough scientific examination of the Mona Lisa.

Over time, thousands of critics, historians and scholars have analyzed the subject, techniques, chemistry of the paint, and composition. I think there isn't anything that hasn't been analyzed.

Here is the Prado and the Louvre Mona Lisas - the Prado was cleaned and it certainly has better colours than the aged and yellowing Louvre version.

And a cute beehive gazebo at Winterthur in mid-Spring.