The lost princess of Da Vinci

Is the portrait kept in Geneva really the work of Leonardo da Vinci or an anonymous German painter?

The picture depicts the tilted face of a green-eyed young woman named for the beautiful name of the beautiful Princess. Painted in ink and chalk on a 29cm long cowhide, the color of the painting shines without losing any oil paintings.

Accident of fate

In 1998, Peter Silverman, a Canadian collector, first met the 'princess' when she was sold by Christie's auction house in New York under the title 'Germany, early 19th century'. Love at first sight, Silverman joined the auction to win her. However, at that time, Silverman was unable to pay more than $ 19,000 and was forced to watch the 'princess' out of reach. 9 years later, as the fate of fate, Silverman met the beauty in the shop of a famous painting artist Kate Ganz. Deciding not to lose her again, Silverman bought the portrait with the same price and began the journey to find the 'princess' father .

The picture of the beautiful Princess appraised is by the artist Leonardo da Vinci

Peter Silverman believes that 'princess' is a masterpiece of the Renaissance (around the 15th-16th century), not the 19th century, as Christie's appraised. Many other collectors, including an expert of the Louvre Museum (France), also agreed with him. Therefore, in 2007, Silverman decided to seek help from the Lumière Technology Laboratory in Paris. Here, with ultra-high resolution cameras, the researchers discovered a hand mark on the portrait that is said to be very similar to the mark found in Leonardo's other works.

Tracing identity

Silverman then went to Matin Kemp, an elite professor of art history at Oxford University and an expert on this Tuscany artist. In October 2009, Professor Kemp asserted that the portrait was Leonardo's work, and he was the one who gave the painting the name Beautiful Princess. He guessed that the girl in the picture was the illegitimate daughter of Duke Ludovico of Milan, Bianca Sforza.

To verify the theory, Kemp flew to Poland to find the book Sforziade, which was made during the splendor of the Sforza clan at the country's national library. One of the 4 books was printed on Bianca Sforza's wedding with Galeazzo commander Sanseverino. In comparison, one side of the picture completely coincides with the back of the book, leaving no doubt about the authenticity of the 'princess'.

Immediately, the value of Leonardo da Vinci's 13th portrait jumped to $ 100 million. Up to now, this number has reached 150 million USD. Peter Silverman intends to use 80% of the proceeds from displaying the painting for charitable purposes. He also wanted the 'princess' to be matched with his siblings in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the great painter's death in 2019.