France should sell the Mona Lisa for €50bn to deal with its coronavirus economic crisis

France should sell the Mona Lisa for €50billion (£44.7billion) to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis, the Daily Mail reports, citing leading French businessmen.

Stephane Distinguin, 46, founder and CEO of the international tech company, Fabernovel, proposed the French 'sell the family jewellery' to combat the economic strain caused by the pandemic.  

He told French magazine Usbek & Rica: 'Day after day, we list the billions engulfed in this slump like children counting the fall of a stone into a well to measure its depth. We are still counting, and this crisis seems unfathomable.

"As an entrepreneur and a taxpayer, I know that these billions are not invented and that they will necessarily cost us. An obvious reflex is to sell off a valuable asset at the highest price possible, but one that is the least critical as possible to our future.

"A painting is easy to move and therefore to hand over. And we have a lot of paintings. Besides, how many visitors to the Louvre and admirers of its Mona Lisa take the time to contemplate in the same room The Wedding at Cana, by Veronese, with its 67 square metres (721sq ft) and 130 characters?

"In 2020, we have to get the money where it is. So sell family jewellery. Otherwise, only the Googles, Apples, Facebooks, Amazons, Microsofts, Disneys, Netflixs, Alibabas and Tencents of this world will be able to contribute to the funding of culture."

Discussing how much he thinks the painting would fetch, he said: "The price is the crux of the matter and the main subject of controversy. 

"I estimate that it would take no less than €50billion (£44.7 billion) to acquire the Mona Lisa. 

"I was told that my estimate was very overvalued, even far-fetched, but each time without real arguments."

He also suggested "tokenising" the Mona Lisa by creating a blockchain like Bitcoin so that parties can easily exchange the painting. 

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