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Leonardo da Vinci could have pioneered the world's first 3D image by painting two similar portraits of the Mona Lisa, it has been claimed.

The Renaissance artist produced two almost identical copies, which when viewed next to one another would create the impression of depth, according to German art researchers.

The effect would reportedly be similar to superimposed images used today to create the impression of three-dimensional drawings, which are often viewed with red and blue tinted glasses.

Artworks: Leonardo da Vinci could have pioneered the world's first 3D image by painting two similar portraits of the Mona Lisa - the famous Mona Lisa at the Louvre (left) and the 'Prado Mona Lisa' (right), it is claimed

The extraordinary theory was revealed in a paper by Claus-Christian Carbon and Vera Hesslinger, according to the Huffington Post.

It relies on a similar painting to the Mona Lisa - unveiled in 2012 - being produced by the artist himself rather than a student, as has been theorised.

The researchers analysed the copy, called the 'Prado Mona Lisa', at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain, as well as the famous portrait of Mona Lisa that hangs at Paris's Louvre museum.

They discovered there was a slight perspective shift between the artworks - with the painter (or painters) having created them from different vantage points.

Difference: German reseachers discovered there was a slight perspective shift between the artworks - with the painter(s) having created them from different vantage points of around 2.7 inches in horizontal distance

These points measured around 2.7 inches in horizontal distance - which is similar to the average distance between a person's eyes, they found.

'When I first perceived the two paintings side by side, it was very obvious for me that there is a very small but evident difference in perspectives,' Mr Carbon, of the University of Hamberg in Germany, told Live Science.

'This is particularly clear if you observe the chair on which La Gioconda sits: In the Prado version, you can still see the end of the end corner of the chair at the background of the painting, which you cannot see in the Louvre version.'

Copy: The theory relies on the 'Prado Mona Lisa' being produced by the artist himself. The difference in vantage points is reportedly 'particularly clear' if you observe 'the end of the end corner' (circled) of Mona Lisa's chair

He said this was because the painter of Prado Mona Lisa - supposedly, da Vinci himself - had been positioned more to the left than the creator of the Louvre artwork.

The researchers then cited the manner in which our eyes perceive objects at varying perspectives, before sending individual, flat images to our brain to be translated into one three-dimensional picture.

Using this notion, they concluded that the two paintings, when viewed together, could present the first stereoscopic image in the world.

Study: The researchers used a red-cyan anaglyph to combine the two paintings of the Mona Lisa (pictured)

The researchers added that they had used a red-cyan anaglyph to combine the two portraits - and it had backed their theory that the finished product portrayed depth.

But they admitted it was impossible to know whether the stereoscopic masterpiece was a coincidence, or whether da Vinci had knowingly created it as part of a science project.

Three-dimensional? They claimed the finished product (pictured) backed their theory that the paintings, when viewed together, portrayed depth

As well as creating artworks such as 'The Last Supper' and 'The Vitruvian Man', da Vinci is also renowned for his work in the fields of anatomy, geology, mathematics and literature, among others.

He was one of the greatest anatomists the world had ever seen - with his intricate knowledge of the human body demonstrated in a collection of notebooks which he filled with detailed studies of organs, bones, vessels and muscles.

In February this year, it was revealed that Italian art detectives are a step closer to identifying the lady behind the artist's famous Mona Lisa portrait.

DNA tests are underway on bones that may belong to a Florentine noblewoman, named Lisa Gherardini, who is widely believed to be the model for the painting.

Historian Silvano Vinceti has taken samples from a skeleton in Sant'Orsola convent near Florence and is comparing them to DNA from the bones of some of Gherardini's confirmed relatives.

If a DNA match is made, Professor Vinceti will make a 3D reconstruction of Gherardini's face from the skull, as well as details in da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting.

The results from the analysis should be ready by May or June, the professor told the Wall Street Journal.

Lisa Gherardini is thought to have posed for the painting between 1503 and 1506.

THE MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI

Leonardo da Vinci is best known for his stunning artwork but the Italian Renaissance painter had many talents.

He was also a sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.

The Mona Lisa is his most famous and most parodied portrait while his painting of The Last Supper is the most reproduced religious painting of all time.

Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon - being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts.

Only around fifteen of his paintings survive because of his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination.

Leonardo is also revered for his technological ingenuity.

He conceptualised a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a calculator, and the double hull, also outlining a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics.

Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime, but some of his smaller inventions, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded.

He made important discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics, but he did not publish his findings and they had no direct influence on later science.