The Isleworth Mona Lisa is a disputed painting apparently on the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Though insufficiently examined, the painting is claimed by some to be partly an original work of Leonardo dating from the early 16th century, several years before its more famous counterpart.
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Shortly before World War I, English art collector Hugh Blaker discovered the painting in the home of a Somerset nobleman in whose family it had been for nearly 100 years. This discovery led to the conjecture that Leonardo painted two portraits of Lisa del Giocondo: the famous one in The Louvre, and the one discovered by Blaker, who bought the painting and took it to his studio in Isleworth, London, from which it takes its name.
According to Leonardo's early biographer Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo had started to paint Mona Lisa in 1503, but "left it unfinished". However, a fully finished painting of a "certain Florentine lady" surfaces again in 1517, shortly before Leonardo's death and in his private possession. The latter painting almost certainly is the same that now hangs in the Louvre. Based on this contradiction, supporters of the authenticity of the Isleworth Mona Lisa claim it to be the unfinished Mona Lisa, made at least partially by Leonardo and originally handed over to its commissioner, and the Louvre Mona Lisa a later version of it, made by Leonardo for his own use.
Also, according to Henry F. Pulitzer in his Where is the Mona Lisa?, Giovanni Lomazzo, an art historian, refers in his Trattato dell'arte della Pittura Scultura ed Architettura, published 1584, to "della Gioconda, e di Mona Lisa (the Gioconda, and the Mona Lisa)". "La Gioconda" is sometimes used as an alternative title of the Mona Lisa hanging in the Louvre; the reference implies that these were, in fact, two separate paintings. Pulitzer reproduces the critical page from Lomazzo's tract in his own book.
The subject of the Isleworth Mona Lisa appears to be a younger version of the woman in the more famous painting. The painting is larger than the one hanging in the Louvre, and the subject takes up a smaller percentage of the overall canvas space.
Both Mona Lisas wear veils of mourning (one can see a very thin hairline on the foreheads of both sitters), both are positioned at similar angles, and both wear similar expressions. Their clothes appear to be identical, and the hands of both subjects are positioned in almost exactly the same way.
The background in the Isleworth painting is considerably less detailed than the background in the Louvre painting, causing many art experts cited in Pulitzer's book to suggest that if Leonardo did indeed paint the subject, it is likely somebody else painted the background.
According to Pulitzer, multiple art experts agreed that the neck of the Isleworth Mona Lisa is inferior to the necks of other Leonardo subjects, suggesting that somebody else touched up the neck. Several people Pulitzer consulted believed that the hands and face of the portrait were by Leonardo, but the rest may have been finished by another or others.
The Isleworth Mona Lisa is framed by two columns on each side of the picture. The Louvre painting features no such columns. In 2004 and 2005, a team of 39 international experts proved positively that the original painting has not been trimmed.
The authenticity of the Isleworth Mona Lisa is widely disputed in the art community. Some argue that as Henry F. Pulitzer himself owned the painting in question, a conflict of interest is present. His Where is the Mona Lisa was published by the Pulitzer Press, a publisher he owned. Pulitzer notes in the introduction to his book that he made a number of sacrifices in order to acquire the painting, including the selling off of "a house with all its contents". Establishing the authenticity of the Isleworth Mona Lisa was undoubtedly in Pulitzer's best interest.
Pulitzer argues in his book that Da Vinci's contemporary Raphael made a sketch of this painting, probably from memory, after seeing it in Leonardo's studio in 1504 (the sketch is reproduced in Pulitzer's book; the book says that this sketch is at the Louvre). The Raphael sketch includes the two Greek columns that are found not in the Louvre's Mona Lisa, but are found in the painting bought by Blaker. Pulitzer presents a few pages of art expert testimonials in his book; some of these experts seemed to believe that Leonardo was the painter, others felt the artist was somebody who worked in Leonardo's studio, and still others suggested that other artists may have done it.Supporters of the authenticity of the Isleworth Mona Lisa include art collector John Eyre, who argued that the bust, face, and hands are autographed. (Monograph of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" (London: Grevel, 1915).
Pulitzer also presents laboratory evidence (light to dark ratios across the canvas, X-rays, etc.) that his painting is a Leonardo. However, specific detail on the manner in which these studies were carried out, and by whom, is not provided. He writes: "I have no intention of cluttering up this book with too many technicalities and wish to make this chapter brief". No independent reports on the painting are cited in his text; he uses the pronoun "we" to describe the research conducted (along the lines of "we X-rayed the painting and found that..."). As his own Pulitzer Press then published these results, there is a lack of outside corroboration for his claims.
The painting is believed to be stored in the vault of a Swiss Bank.
