PARIS (Reuters)

A faithful copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’, one of the world’s most recognisable portraits, sold for €210,000 (US$242,634) at a Paris auction on Tuesday.

The auction house, Artcurial, had estimated the copy, dating from around 1600 and looking strikingly similar to the original, would fetch €150,000 to €200,000.

Leonardo’s original, which French King Francois I bought from the painter in 1518, can be found in Paris’ Louvre museum, drawing huge crowds to see its enigmatic smile.

In June, a European collector bought another 17th Century copy of the ‘Mona Lisa’ for €2.9 million, a record for a reproduction of the work, at Christie’s in Paris.

In 2017, Christie’s New York sold Leonardo’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ for US$450 million.