Mona latte: Da Vinci's Lisa masterpiece recreated using cups of coffee
This stunning recreation of the Mona Lisa has been made with a staggering 3,604 cups of coffee - and 564 pints of milk.
The different colours were created by adding varying amounts of milk to each cup of black coffee.
It measures an impressive 20ft by13ft – nearly ten times the size of Leonardo da Vinci’s original masterpiece - and took a team of eight people three hours to complete.
Mocha Lisa: The Mona Lisa was made with 3,604 cups of coffee with 564 pints of milk added for colouring
It was created for The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia, and was seen by 130,000 people who attended the one-day coffee-lovers’ event.
Elaine Kelly, from organisers the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, was delighted with the result.
She said: ‘Each coffee cup was filled with varying amounts of milk to create the different sepia shades of the painting.
‘We wanted to create an element of surprise and a sense of fun in the way we engaged with the public.
Cuppa load of this: The cup creation up close at the Rocks Aroma coffee festival in Sydney, Australia
‘Once we had the idea of creating an image out of coffee cups we searched for something iconic to reproduce - and opted for the most iconic painting in history.
Original: The real Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris
‘The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee.
‘The result was fantastic.
‘After much planning it was great to see if coming together so well and the 130,000 people who attended the event certainly enjoyed it.’
Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel by da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance.
The work is owned by the French government and hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris.
Titled Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, it is actually quite small, measuring 2ft 6in by 1ft 9in.
The painting is generally acknowledged to be the most famous work of art in the world and debate has raged for years over the reason for her famously enigmatic smile.
Extensive scrutiny using X-ray apparatus suggests that restoration work has resulted in the original being painted over three times.
Three dimensional, infrared imaging techniques have also been used to analyse the painting and suggest the model wears a veil customarily worn by new mothers.
It is therefore thought that her apparent smile may be due to the joy of motherhood.
Watch the video below showing how the coffee became art
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