The 'Mona Lisa Hekking', a famous 17th century replica that its owner, Raymond Hekking, had championed as authentic in the 1960s, soared to € 2.9 million (including costs) at a sale online auction at Christie's.
A sign that the fascination around Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa exhibited at the Louvre is not weakening, this copy of excellent quality was acquired by a foreign collector, when 14 bidders came forward, said the auction house in Paris.
The sale on the Christie's website started a week ago.
Without the costs, the amount reached 2.4 million euros, well above the starting estimate of the work between 200,000 and 300,000 euros.
This painting had made the headlines of newspapers and radios as far as the United States, after being acquired from an antique dealer in the Nice region by Raymond Hekking.
Its authenticity has been questioned
A passionate art collector, he had defended the authenticity of this painting to art historians and the media until the 1960s. He questioned that of the painting in the Louvre and asked the museum to prove that Leonardo da Vinci was the author of this canvas.
Obsessed with the idea that he owned the masterpiece, he thought it was not the authentic Mona Lisa that had been returned to the Louvre in 1914, three years after the theft of this painting in 1911 by the Italian Vincenzo Perugia, and that a copy had been put in his place.
After Raymond Hekking's death in 1977, the painting remained with his family.
The "Mona Lisa" entered the collections of Francois 1er shortly after 1517. Several copies were then made at the beginning of the 17th century, including the one acquired by Raymond Hekking.
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