Vinci madness: an ancient copy of the Mona Lisa awarded to the record price of 2.9 million euros
"This is madness !"At the very admission of a representative (anonymous) from Christie's, no one imagined only a copy - was it old - of a painting - was it the most famous in the world - reaching such summits.And yet, that's what happened in Paris on Friday.The Mona Lisa Hekking, a replica of the 17th century that its owner, Raymond Hekking, had defended as authentic in the 1960s, flew to reach 2.9 million euros (including costs) during an auction in auctionLine at Christie's.A sign that the fascination around the Mona Lisa of Léonardo da Vinci exhibited at the Louvre does not weaken, this copy of excellent invoice was acquired by a foreign collector, while fourteen bidders have come forward, said the auction house in Paris.
Reading Ukking Ukking Author Lisa on sale at Christie's
The sale on the Christie's website had started a week ago.Without the costs, the amount reaches 2.4 million euros, far above the start of the work between 200,000 and 300,000 euros.This table had made the headlines and radios to the United States, after being acquired from an antique dealer in the Nice region by Raymond Hekking.
Collector passionate about art, he had defended the authenticity of this painting with art historians and the media until the 1960s. He questioned that of the painting kept at the Louvre and asked the museum to prove that Léonardo da Vinciwas the author of this canvas.Obsessed with the idea that he had the masterpiece, he thought that it was not the authentic Joconde who had been returned to the Louvre in 1914, three years after the flight of this painting in 1911 by theItalian Vincenzo Perugia, and that a copy had been put in his place.After the death of Raymond Hekking in 1977, the painting remained in his family.La Joconde du Louvre, entering the collections of Francois 1er, shortly after 1517, was copied several times from the beginning of the 17th century.
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