Painting of Leonardo Da Vinci "Portrait of a beautiful princess"

Authenticity of the Leonardo da Vinci painting was proved in Warsaw

Portrait of a young woman created, as it was originally expected, by the German master in the 19th century was proved to be created by the talented painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist, inventor and writer Leonardo da Vinci. Irrefutable evidence of the authorship of the brilliant master of the High Renaissance era was found in the National Library in Warsaw.

Portrait of a young woman named "Portrait of a beautiful princess" (La Bella Principessa or Portrait of a Fiancee) was first presented by the famous Christie's auction house in 1998 as the work of an unknown German painter of the XIX century. Unidentified masterpiece of Leonardo Da Vinci was sold to the New York gallery owner Kate Ganz for a modest amount of 21,850$. Later the painting was resold for the same amount to the Canadian collector Peter Silverman, who represented the interests of an unknown Swiss collector.

The fate and cost of a masterpiece created by the brilliant master of the Italian Renaissance changed dramatically after the research conducted by the French experts of the "Lumiere technology" laboratory and the Swiss Federal Technological Institute in 2009.

As a result of several tests and spectral analysis of the picture it was proved that the painting was created during the period from 1440 to 1650 years. On the picture were also found fingerprints of the artist and a tiny hole on the left side of the picture, which allowed the researchers to suggest that it was a part of a book.

Despite the evident facts presented by the researchers, art historians and dealers reacted cautiously, while the Christie’s auction house categorically denied the authenticity of the picture.

The final chord in a dispute between the art critics disproving the authorship of da Leonardo da Vinci and its supporters was made by the discovery of the Professor Martin Kemp of Oxford University at the National Library in Warsaw, Poland.

In the Warsaw National Library was found a volume of the Sforza chronicle of the famous noble Milanese family illustrated by the works of the famous Renaissance masters with a missing page. The scientists presented compelling evidence that the portrait was removed from the book in the National Library of Warsaw and, of course, was created by the genius Leonardo da Vinci.

According to the professor Kemp, the portrait from the book of the 15th century was created in honor of the family of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke Milan and the main patron of Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, created by mixed techniques (crayons, ink and pencil), known as the "Portrait of a beautiful princess" ("Portrait of the fiancee") is the portrait of the illegitimate daughter of Prince Bianco, whose wedding was also reflected in the book, which is now stored in the Warsaw National Library.

Professor believes that complete matching of the pages is an indisputable proof of the authenticity of the portrait to the hand of the genius Renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci.

If the professor’s theory would receive broad support in the art dealers’ community, the picture of Leonardo Da Vinci may return to auction houses and will be amounted at about 150$ million.

Date: 04/10/2011