Here you see the Mona Lisa as she appears today, in true colour and size, exactly as Pascal Cotte saw her when he photographed the real Mona Lisa at the Louvre museum in Paris, France.
Few paintings are as treasured and as protected as the Mona Lisa. Kept in a climate-controlled room behind bulletproof glass, only a privileged minority will ever have the opportunity to see her up close. This replica gives us a rare opportunity to discover what the back of the painting reveals about Mona Lisa's rich and tumultuous history.
Where the board has split, two butterfly clips were originally used to repair it. Now only the bottom clip remains, and how and when the top butterfly clip, beige in colour, was lost remains a mystery.
Among the writings and repairs, notice the address 'Au garde des Tableaux à Versailles... bureau du Directeur' ('to the Painting guardian at Versailles... office of the Director'). This likely dates from when King Louis XIV, who owned the painting at the time, moved it from the Palace of Fontainebleau to his new residence at the Palace of Versailles.
At the top left you can read the word Joconde, the French name for Mona Lisa. On the bottom right you will see the red stamp of the Musée Royal ('Royal Museum'). The fleur-de-lys is the symbol of the French King, while the number 316 refers to the position of Mona Lisa in the museum's collection.
In the middle of the panel you can make out the number 29. This is the number of Mona Lisa in the list of paintings that were moved from Versailles to the Louvre. However, the date and meaning of the letter 'H' above it are unknown.