'This is madness': Mona Lisa copy sold for 2.9 million euros

19/6/2021 6:22

        A European collector has bought a
        17th century copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting for
        2.9 million euros ($3.4 million), a record for a Mona Lisa
        reproduction, in an auction at Christie's in Paris on Friday.
        
        Known as the "Hekking Mona Lisa," after its owner who
        unsuccessfully argued that a copy he had bought in the 1950s was
        the real thing, is one of many reproductions of the original,
        which hangs in the Paris Louvre museum.
        
        "This is madness, this is an absolute record for a Mona Lisa
        reproduction," a Christie's spokeswoman said.
        
        She said there had been 14 bidders in an international
        auction and that in the last hour, the bids soared from 500,000
        to 2.4 million euros, before a final bid of 2.9 million was
        made.
        
        The Louvre's original is not for sale. But in 2017,
        Christie's New York sold da Vinci’s "Salvator Mundi" for $450
        million to an unidentified telephone bidder, making it the most
        expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.