New Da Vinci Artwork Discovered

26 October 2009

The first previously unknown work by Leonardo Da Vinci to be discovered in a hundred years, a 13-by-10-inch chalk, ink and pencil drawing being called "La Bella Principessa," has been identified via fingerprint evidence. Using forensic technology, a Montreal-based forensic art expert has matched a fingerprint and palm print on the work to that of Leonardo Da Vinci, who apparently left fingerprints on many of his art works. The unsigned drawing had previously been attributed to a 19th Century German artist, until a collector purchased it on suspicion that it looked older than that and that it looked like Da Vinci’s work. Experts now believe it is a portrait of the daughter of a 15th Century Milanese duke, and it was basically being used to pimp her out to prospective suitors -- not unlike profile pictures people use today to sell themselves on internet dating sites.

The drawing had been valued at $19,000, and its previous owner, NY art dealer Kate Ganz, is still proudly insisting that it can’t possibly be the work of Leonardo. Since you can’t much argue with fingerprint evidence, and assuming it is Leonardo’s work, it’s now worth up to $150 million.

Courtesy: sfist.com