The Mona Lisa Foundation performed a graphic experiment, comparing the original ‘Mona Lisa’ and the Louvre version.  Both compositions demonstrate the presence of Leonardo’s unique and extraordinary mastery of proportion and express the tremendous importance of geometry in his work.

Comparison I

This combination of images displays the two portraits scaled to their relative sizes. This demonstrates that the canvas support of the original ‘Mona Lisa’ is significantly larger than the poplar wood support of the Louvre portrait. However, the subject in the Louvre painting is roughly 10% larger than that in the earlier version.

Comparison II

Even though both paintings and the subjects within them are of different sizes, when they are brought to the same dimensions, they align perfectly along horizontal lines. What makes this comparison so remarkable is that, despite the figures within them having been painted to different sizes, the two works display the exact same proportional similarities. This strongly suggests that the same artist executed both works.