A European collector on Friday bought a famous replica of Leonardo da Vinci's art masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, for $3.4million at a Christie's auction in Paris, France.

The replica, known as the "Hekking Mona Lisa", named after its previous owner, Raymond Hekking, an antique seller in France, is largely believed to have been painted by an Italian painter in the 1600s -- about a century after da Vinci painted the real Mona Lisa. However, Hekking had always maintained that the painting in his possession is the true Mona Lisa and the one at the Louvre Museum was a look-alike which was returned to the Louvre after the real painting was stolen in 1914.

According to Christie's, Hekking devoted much of his life to proving the painting he bought for $4 -- about $110 in 2020 valuation -- from an antique store in 1953 was the true da Vinci, while the artwork in the Louvre was a copy. At the time, some art historians seriously considered Hekking’s arguments, but experts now believe otherwise.

Christie’s described Hekking's replica as "not as compelling as the work in the Louvre but it conjures something of that world and, in a world of images, in which only the strongest ones stay in our mind, allows the dream to go on."

"Art challenges, fascinates, sometimes obsesses," said Pierre Etienne, international director of Old Master Paintings at the auction house. He added that the record-setting price of the Hekking replica “demonstrates the ongoing fascination the Mona Lisa still exerts centuries after her creation.”

"This work and its history illustrate the fascination that the Mona Lisa and the aura of Leonardo da Vinci have always held," the auction house added.

Prior to the auction, the Mona Lisa replica had been estimated to sell for €200,000 to €300,000, and its eventual selling price of $3.4million (€2.9 million) is more than ten times this estimate. This is such an incredible feat for a copy of the iconic Renaissance painting that a Christie's spokesperson remarked to Reuters that it’s a “madness...an absolute record for a 'Mona Lisa' reproduction.”

The Mona Lisa has been generating record-breaking news in recent times. This $3.4million record sale of the Hekking Mona Lisa could be put into obscurity very soon if an online petition “We want Jeff Bezos to buy and eat the Mona Lisa,” that has gathered more than 9,000 signatures as of Friday is obliged by the Amazon boss. This has the potential to break the world record for most expensive artwork which was set by Salvator Mundi, another Da Vinci painting that sold for $450 million in 2016 at Christie’s in New York.