A lot of controversy surrounds whether a painting should be cleaned and restored. Reason being, some people believe that cleaning the varnish off an old painting would risk ruining the colours beneath. However, I think removing the old, decaying varnish off old masterpieces allows us to see the paintings in the way the artists painted them.
Below, at right, is the Mona Lisa that we are so used to seeing. At left, is Prado's, a student of Leonardo, version of the Mona Lisa with its coating of varnish removed. As you can see, the details in Prado's version is much more clearer, and the colours are very much brighter.
Learn more about the story behind Prado's version of Mona Lisa via this link.
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