A so-called early version of the Mona Lisa has gone on public display for the first time in 400 years - as experts revealed they have established a link between it and one of England's finest country homes.

人們稱之為《蒙娜麗莎》年輕版本的畫作在四百年前首次公開展覽之后就消失了，專家透露這幅畫和英國一戶有名的鄉村住所有所關聯。

A group of historians claim Leonardo da Vinci painted the work, dubbed the 'Early Mona Lisa', more than a decade before his masterpiece portrait and depicted the same Italian merchant's wife.

一個歷史家團隊認為列奧納多·達·芬奇（Leonardo da Vinci）所畫的取名為《年輕的蒙娜麗莎》（Early Mona Lisa）的創作時間先于著名肖像畫《蒙娜麗莎》超過十年，但描繪的是同一位女士，她是一位意大利商人的妻子。

It was unearthed before the First World War but lay hidden in a Swiss bank vault for 40 years, while a consortium carried out secret tests before unveiling it in 2012 - though many experts still insist it was one of a litany of inferior copies.

這幅畫在第一次世界大戰之前出土，此后藏在瑞士銀行的金庫40年。在這幅畫在2012年公之于眾前一個財團對其進行多項秘密檢測，用科學方式證明其真偽，但很多專家仍舊堅信它是眾多仿冒品之一。

Today, as the painting's first public exhibition was unveiled in Singapore, the Swiss-based Mona Lisa Foundation claimed it has discovered new details about the painting's past which strengthen the view it is by Da Vinci.

現在這幅畫在新加坡第一次正式亮相。總部位于瑞士的蒙娜麗莎基金會表示，有很多歷史細節的發現可以證明這是出自于達·芬奇之手。

It was already known that it was bought from a Somerset aristocrat in 1913 by English art dealer Hugh Blaker, who kept it in his studio in Isleworth, south west London, before selling it to American Henry Pulitzer in the 1960s. Before that, however, the painting's journey was a murky one.

人們已知的就是1913年一位英國販畫商人休·布萊克（Hugh Blaker）從一位薩摩賽特郡（Somerset）的貴族手中買到了它，將其放在他位于倫敦西南部的艾爾沃思（Isleworth）的畫室里，在20世紀60年代又將其賣給美國人亨利·普利策（Henry Pulitzer），但在這段歷史之前這幅畫的流通便不為人知。

Now the Foundation claims it has identified strong evidence that the Somerset home where the painting was bought in 1913 could be Montacute House - one of England's finest Elizabethan mansions now run by the National Trust.

目前，蒙娜麗莎基金會表示有確鑿的證據表明1913年布萊克在薩摩賽特購買畫作的具體位置是現在的蒙塔庫故居（Montacute House），這是其中一間全英國最好的伊麗莎白一世時期的宅邸，現在由英國國民信托組織管理（the National Trust）。

The claim, seen by the Reuters news agency, would fit if true. The Phelips family which owned Montacute fell on hard times and secretly sold their possessions just before the First World War, leaving the manor in 1911.

路透社認為這個推斷是有歷史根據的：蒙塔庫宅邸當時的主人菲利普斯一家（the Phelips）陷入困境，在第一次世界大戰之前秘密地變賣了他們的財產，在1911年離開了這個莊園。

In 1915 the house was taken over by future Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon, and it was later put up for sale in 1929. By 1931 it was so dilapidated that it was being valued ‘for scrap’ at ￡5,882.

1915年，這一間房子轉交給了洛德·柯曾（Lord Curzon），即后來的外交大臣。1929年柯曾又將這間房子出售，兩年后才以5882英鎊的低廉價格將這戶破舊不堪的房子“賤賣”掉。

Diaries kept by Blaker - who tried several times unsuccessfully to have the painting authenticated - were lost, but the researchers say the brief references which remain to the house indicate it was Montacute.

布萊克保管了一些試圖證明這幅畫是真跡的日記，這些日記已經遺失，但研究人員在蒙塔庫官邸里保留下來的一些簡短的相關信息顯示當時買畫的地方就是這里。

Now that the house has been restored, it was used as a filming location for the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant, and its Long Gallery houses more than 60 Tudor and Elizabethan portraits on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in London.

現在這間房子已經重新整修，成為由埃瑪·湯普森（Emma Thompson）和休·格朗（Hugh Grant）領銜主演的1995年版《理智與情感》（Sense and Sensibility）的拍攝地點，屋子里長長的走廊掛著向英國國家肖像畫廊（National Portrait Gallery）借的六十多幅都鐸王朝時代和伊麗莎白一世時代的肖像畫。

The Mona Lisa researchers also say they have traced the portrait's history before its possible arrival at Montacute.

研究《蒙娜麗莎》的學者也表示他們已經追蹤到這幅畫在可能到達蒙塔庫之前的歷史。

In a communication passed to Reuters, they said they had found references to a painting called La Joconde - the French name for the Mona Lisa - in an art exhibition in Yeovil, Somerset, in 1856.

他們告訴路透社記者，已經發現與此相關的一幅叫La Joconde的畫，這是為蒙娜麗莎命名的法語名，這幅畫在1856年薩蒙賽特的約維爾（Yeovil）一次藝術展覽中展出。

The painting, which was sold to a silver dealer two years later, also featured in a document declaring that young Somerset noble James Marwood owned a work by Da Vinci called La Joconde, which he probably bought on a visit to Italy around the 1780s.

這幅兩年后賣給一位銀幣商人的畫同樣在一部文件中有所記載，該文件提到薩蒙賽特的年輕貴族詹姆斯·馬伍德（James Marwood）擁有一幅達·芬奇名為La Joconde的畫，他可能是在18世紀80年代左右前往意大利購買的。