Saving Mona Lisa: A Novel

Saving Mona Lisa is an intrigue of art, love, and Renaissance genius. The story is inspired by the nine versions of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Mona Lisa depicted on the book cover—the original, plus eight copies of dubious provenance. The mystery over who painted these copies still confounds art historians, as does the fact that Leonardo refused to finish the original or deliver it to its rightful owner, right up until his death more than fifteen years later.

In 2012, conservators at the Prado Museum in Madrid determined that their copy was painted at the same time as the original, but Leonardo did not paint it.

In 2009, another “nude Mona Lisa” surfaced in France, further fueling the titillating question over who painted the nude versions.

Five centuries after his death, Leonardo da Vinci, the most renowned personality, artist, inventor, and temperamental genius in history, continues to reveal his many mysteries…

Based closely on scholarly research, historical evidence and credible speculation, Saving Mona Lisa weaves an intriguing mystery as Leonardo clashes with his two young apprentices over the ultimate fate of a painting that had achieved world renown soon after everyone thought it was finished...everyone, that is, except Leonardo.

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
-Leonardo da Vinci

***The Kindle version of Saving Mona Lisa is programmed for easy reader navigation and includes short bios of the principal characters, maps, historical Afterword, Italian glossary, and over 30 illustrations and photographs of Leonardo’s most important works.