Leonardo da Vinci painted an earlier version of his famed
masterpiece "Mona Lisa," claims a private Swiss art foundation
dedicated solely to the alternate painting, which it unveiled
Thursday. But an expert on da Vinci in Britain says there is
evidence that the Renaissance master may not have been behind
the picture presented as the "Earlier Mona Lisa" but known more
commonly as the "Isleworth Mona Lisa." The Mona Lisa Foundation,
based in Zurich, offers a wealth of documentation to support its
argument that the painting it represents is a predecessor --
from the master's own hand -- to the world's most famous
portrait hanging in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Martin Kemp,
professor emeritus at Oxford University, who has examined the
arguments, says the "reliable primary evidence provides no basis
for thinking that there was 'an earlier' portrait of Lisa del
Giocondo." In addition to a 320-page art book titled "Mona Lisa:
Leonardo's Earlier Version," the foundation's website makes its
case using visual widgets o