THE world’s biggest ever Mona Lisa has been unveiled in Wrexham.
The giant version of the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece is now on display at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre.
It measures 17.5 metres across, covers 240 square metres and is 50 times bigger than the 16th century original which is hanging in the Louvre art gallery in Paris.
The Wrexham version, which could accommodate 22 London buses, is more than double the size of the version painted by Rolf Harris in Edinburgh in 2005.
The detailed painting by numbers grid was created by a specialist company in the USA.
Artist Katy Webster was in charge of the project which involved 245 people and took 987 man-hours to paint, using 86 litres of paint.
It was painted on 86 different segments by community groups in Wrexham, including Victoria Primary School and the Haulfan Centre for people with disabilities.
Speaking after the artwork was unveiled Katy said she was delighted to see that the famous smile was intact and added: “It’s kind of mind-blowing how big she is but the smile is still as enigmatic as ever.
“It took over a week to do her face – that was the hardest because everybody knows what it looks like so we had to make sure it was exactly right.
“Our version has a different style to the original because the paint is acrylic but I think it works well.
"This has been the best bit today, putting her together so we can see the Mona Lisa in all her glory.
“Because there’s a balcony overlooking our Mona Lisa people will have a spectacular view of her.”
Fine art graduate Jude Davies, who has done 200 hours of work on the project, said: “People see different things – the more you look, the more you see.
"I didn’t realise she hasn’t got any eyebrows. On her face everything is blended in.”
The original idea was hatched by Eagles Meadow manager Kevin Critchley who wanted to find a way of involving community groups in an art project with the aim of raising money for the Hope House children’s hospice.
People will able to buy their own piece of the 16th-century masterpiece by making a donation to Hope House.