PARIS, Nov 20 — A 17th-century copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s "Mona Lisa” was sold yesterday at Sotheby’s auction house in Paris for €552,500 (RM2.5 million), much more than the initial valuation of €70,000-€90,000.

The Mona Lisa itself, on which da Vinci began work in 1503, has hung at the Louvre Museum in Paris for more than 200 years. It is thought to depict Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant, Francesco Giocondo.

"This amazing result testifies to the power of the lasting fascination of this iconic painting,” Baukje Coenen, a director at Sotheby’s, said in a statement about yesterday’s sale. — Reuters