Is the earlier Mona Lisa really by Da Vinci?

The 'Mona Lisa' is now in Shanghai. Well, sort of. It's not the famed Leonardo da Vinci painting from the Louvre. Instead, it is what some art historians claim to be an earlier version of the original portrait.

The 'Earlier Mona Lisa', also known as the 'Isleworth Mona Lisa', is on display at The House Xintiandi as part of an exhibition presented by Switzerland-based Mona Lisa Foundation until August 28.

The museum immerses visitors on a journey that melds history, science, mathematics and art, looking in-depth at golden ratio, painting materials and new technologies such as carbon dating to determine whether the ‘Earlier Mona Lisa’ painting is an actual da Vinci creation.

Da Vinci is said to have started on the first painting some ten years before the Louvre portrait in the early 1500s, and the result is a younger and more attractive Lisa del Giocondo than the famous half-smile visage. But while the ‘Mona Lisa’ at the Parisian museum has been on permanent display since the early 1800s, the ‘Isleworth Mona Lisa’ was acquired by an English nobleman in the late 1770s and was only rediscovered by art curator Hugh Blaker in 1913.

For decades since, art historians and da Vinci experts have debated the authenticity of this painting as an original da Vinci creation. Some have argued that it’s one of many replicas, while others point to scientific and historic evidence to assert its legitimacy.

Each visitor to the exhibition is provided a bilingual, audio-visual tablet guide that explains the different evidence. There is also a kids version that calls for them to be detectives to investigate the facts.

Ultimately, while the museum puts up a convincing case that the 'Earlier Mona Lisa' is an authentic da Vinci painting, visitors are still left to discern the evidence on their own. Whether or not it is a real creation, the exhibition makes for an engaging activity for art and mystery buffs.