NEW YORK, Jan. 18 -- A version of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' long thought to be a copy of the Louvre Museum masterpiece from the artist's own brush has been sold at auction as a work by a follower of Leonardo for an unexpected $552,500. Sotheby's auction house said the painting, which was sold last Thursday, was purchased by an unidentified private collector. Sotheby's experts had expected it to bring only $80,000 to $120,000, a generous estimate for a copy. The so-called Vernon 'Mona Lisa' was consigned to sale by the descendants of William H. Vernon, a prominent 18th century Newport, R.I. , resident who acquired the painting on a sojourn in France during the French Revolution. The Vernon family, now residents of New Jersey, had long sought to authenticate the beautifully painted canvas as an authentic Leonardo. The nearest experts could come was to prove it was painted by a left- handed artist, as Leonardo was, and that it showed columns on either side of the painting that were trimmed from the Louvre original at a very early date. The columns certainly date painting to the time of Francis I of France, who acquired the Louvre 'Mona Lisa' from Leonardo himself and probably had it trimmed to fit a new frame, according to some experts. Later copies would not have shown the columns. Also cited in the debate over authenticity is a 1607 inventory of the French royal collection ordered after Francis' death which lists a 'Mona Lisa' as well as 'a valuable copy.'
A catalog of Sotheby's sale of 133 Old Master paintings noted that the Vernon 'Mona Lisa' 'is one of a small number of works which over the years have been considered second versions by Leonardo da Vinci of the Mona Lisa, and in fact has been among the leading contenders for this distinction.' However, it attributed the painting to a '16th Century follower of Leonardo da Vinci.' Over the years, supporters of the Vernon 'Mona Lisa' often have contended that it is actually the original and the one in the Louvre is the copy. According to Vernon family tradition, the painting was given to their ancestor by Queen Marie Antoinette from the royal collection, in gratitude for services the young American rendered her prior to her arrest and execution. Vernon brought 55 paintings back with him to Newport in 1797, including one listed on the bill of lading as 'a Nun -- a finished piece by Leonardo da Vinci.' Many art works were forced onto the auction block by the upheavals of the Revolution. Vernon's collection allegedly included works by Raphael, Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Hals, many of which he loaned to the Boston Athenaeum for exhibit in the 1830s, but Vernon never exhibited his 'Mona Lisa' which he considered too precious to part with. In recent years the painting, which is in excellent condition, has reposed in a bank vault, removed only for occasional display. It was most recently shown publicly at the Montclair, N. J. Art Museum in 1982 when the controversy over the painting's authenticity was widely reported in the American and French press including an illustrated article in the New York Times with a headline calling the painting 'America's Mona Lisa.'
