Aberystwyth University expert involved in second Mona Lisa unveiling
The Head of School of Art at Aberystwyth University is among the arts experts who will unveil a painting today (Thursday 27 September) that many believe to be an earlier version of the Mona Lisa. Robert Meyrick has been invited to speak at the unveiling in Geneva as the world’s leading expert on Hugh Blaker who bought the painting in 1913 and is best known in Wales as picture advisor to the Davies sisters of Gregynog. The painting, known as the Isleworth Mona Lisa, would have been painted about 20 years before the famous Louvre portrait, is slightly larger and has long been the subject of debate over its authenticity. If the Isleworth Mona Lisa turns out to be authentic, this will conclude that Leonardo da Vinci painted two versions of the Mona Lisa – an earlier version and the later iconic version which hangs in the Louvre. Robert Meyrick explains, “From the outset, art collector and dealer Blaker believed that he had discovered an earlier version of the Mona Lisa, but did not...