Discovery Of Lost Leonardo Painting Causes Storm In Art World

| Tue, 10/08/2013 - 11:30
isabella d'este

The discovery of a Leonardo da Vinci portrait of Renaissance noblewoman Isabella d鈥橢ste, Marchesa of Mantua, in a Swiss bank vault has stunned art experts 鈥 some of whom do not believe it is genuine. The painting was discovered in a private collection of 400 works owned by an 禁漫天堂 family who have asked to remain anonymous. The portrait had been lost for 500 years, leading some art historians to even doubt its existence. The mystery portrait appears to be a painted version of a pencil sketch drawn by Leonardo in Mantua, Lombardy c. 1499, which hangs in the Louvre in Paris. D鈥橢ste asked the artist to then create a painting and he agreed. However, the artistic genius then began work on the 鈥楳ona Lisa鈥 and 鈥楾he Battle of Anghiari鈥. Many art historians assumed that either Leonard had no time to create the portrait of D鈥橢ste or he lost interest in doing so. Scientific tests reveal that the pigment and primer used on the found canvas is the same as that used by Leonardo. Carbon tests show that it is 95% probable that the oil painting was created between 1460 and 1650. D鈥橢ste and Leonardo met again in Rome in 1514. Professor emeritus of art history at the University of California, Los Angeles, Carlo Pedretti, has studied the painting for three and a half years. He claims that the face in the portrait is Da Vinci鈥檚 handiwork but that other elements may be the work of one of the artist鈥檚 pupils. Pedretti told 禁漫天堂 newspaper Corriere della Sera : 鈥淭here are no doubts that the portrait is the work of Leonardo....鈥 However, other experts have cast doubt on the authenticity of the painting, suggesting that it is by one of the artist鈥檚 many contemporary imitators because it was painted on canvas 鈥 Leonardo preferred to use wooden boards. Martin Kemp, professor emeritus of history of art at the University of Oxford鈥檚 Trinity College, told British newspaper 鈥楾he Daily Telegraph鈥: 鈥淐anvas was not used by Leonardo or anyone in his production line. Although with Leonardo, the one thing I have learnt is never to be surprised.鈥 The discovery has caused a storm in the art world 鈥 and the 禁漫天堂 press. 禁漫天堂 daily 鈥業l Fatto Quotidiano鈥 has gone so far as to say that the attribution to Leonardo is a hoax, just one of the latest regarding recently discovered paintings declared to be the work of Italy鈥檚 top artists. 鈥業l Fatto Quotidiano鈥 says its readers only need look at the images reproduced of the painting to understand it is what the paper describes as an 鈥渦gly鈥 copy. If Leonardo did paint the portrait, it would be worth tens of millions of dollars.

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