Masterpieces from Spain's Prado Museum on public display in Shanghai

A total of 70 masterpieces from Spain's Prado Museum, including the earliest known studio copy of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", have arrived in Shanghai for a four-month-long exhibition.

Staff with the Museum of Art Pudong have been busy making final preparations for the upcoming exhibition which is themed "Ages of Splendor: A History of Spain in the Museo del Prado".

The Prado's "Mona Lisa", the most important work of this exhibition, was listed in the Spanish Royal Collection in the 17th century and was collected by the Prado Museum in 1819.

In 2011, when researchers conducted restoration and study on the painting, they restored the piece hidden beneath the black paint, finding it to be very similar to Leonardo da Vinci's original but with brighter colors.

Some scholars believe that Prado's "Mona Lisa" was from Leonardo da Vinci's workshop, and was painted at the same time as the original "Mona Lisa" which on display at the Louvre.

"Indeed, it was a completely accidental discovery. No one expected that there would be a landscape painting completely straight out of Leonardo's workshop beneath the black paint. Therefore, it was a complete discovery, probably the greatest discovery that the Prado Museum has made in recent years," said Pedro Martinez Plaza, curator of the exhibition.

This is the second time for the Prado's "Mona Lisa" to leave the museum after it was briefly loaned to the Louvre in 2012.

Among all the 70 masterpieces to be shown at the exhibition, 16 of them have never been on view outside of Spain, and nine have never been loaned out from the Prado Museum before. More than half of the works will be shown for the first time in Asia.

Spanning from the 16th to 20th centuries, the exhibition will show collections of nearly 50 remarkable artists in the history of European art, including works by Titian, Verones, El Greco, Rubens, Zurbarán, Velázquez, Murillo, Ribera, Goya, Fortuny, and Sorolla.

"[The Prado Museum] provides many precious historical materials. We also have pictures showing the comparison with the 'Mona Lisa' in the Louvre, which are supported by the Louvre," said Li Minkun, chairwoman of the Museum of Art Pudong.

The exhibition was scheduled from April 23 to Sept 1.

Masterpieces from Spain's Prado Museum on public display in Shanghai

New energy vehicles (NEVs) have taken center stage at the ongoing 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (Auto China 2024) with 278 model on display, 70 percent more compared to the last edition of the event.

At the auto show, which kicked off on April 25 and will last until May 4, NEV models account for more than 80 percent of the vehicles which have made their debut. Meanwhile, nearly 20 NEV brands made their debut at the 10-day event.

In addition to new NEV models, state-of-the-art charging technologies are also showcased at the show. NEV models equipped with 800-volt high-voltage fast charging platforms were unveiled and more than 80 units of high-voltage fast-charging NEVs are also on display.

Many exhibitors have presented facilities with ultra-fast "4C" charging capabilities. "C" refers to the charging multiplier, and "4C", for example, means theoretically a vehicle can be fully charged in a quarter of an hour.

NEVs take center stage at ongoing Beijing auto show