guardian.co.uk

At the time, auction house Christie's thought it was a work created in the XIX century anonymous German author of a copy, and a gallery owner in a private conversation, called it "a gaudy fake, made in the twentieth century." Now, one of Britain's leading art critics, who two years ago claimed that executed on vellum portrait of a young girl in profile - the lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci , presented a comprehensive public In his opinion, the evidence of their confidence in the authenticity of the picture. Martin Kemp (Martin Kemp), Professor Emeritus of Art at Oxford University, found that the patterned sheet was torn from the book of the XV century, which tells the story kind of Sforza - the genus to which he belonged powerful patron Leonardo da Vinci, Lodovico Duke of Milan.

Previously, Mr. Kemp suggested that the portrait depicts Bianca Sforza, the illegitimate daughter of the duke, who died a few months after his wedding at the age of 13 years. Now, this conjecture is confirmed by the scientists discovered an old book called "Sfortsiada", which tells the story of a glorious kind of Milan: the symbolism of images of the manuscript suggests that it was a wedding gift.

«Allegations it's a fake or a copy of a lost work by Leonardo, is now completely untenable, "- said Martin Kemp edition Guardian. Earlier this year, Kemp began a quest, as he puts it," a needle in a haystack "- that is, the manuscript of the XV century with a missing leaf. On the idea to start looking like Kemp have guided traces of stitches on the left side of the paper with a picture that made him assume that the page was torn out of a pattern of large, beautifully bound volumes. However, the chances that the book survived five hundred, were very small and the opportunity to find seemed even more questionable.

However, Kemp had found a treasured book - he found her in Warsaw, the Polish National Library. Traces of the seam in the sheet and in the book when connecting to a perfect match other. Now, Martin Kemp, with complete certainty that the portrait, executed in ink and colored crayon on parchment, was created precisely in the XV century, and not in the XIX, as deemed by experts Christie's. The auction house sold the work in 1998 for 11 400 pounds, in fact, with proper attribution work of Leonardo could earn about 100 million pounds.

Martin Kemp went to Warsaw together with the specialist, who once held a scientific analysis of paint layers "Mona Lisa. "Kemp describes the exciting moment when they opened with a colleague that the coveted" ... we really saw that page torn out. Traces of the seams match, parchment was the same. This is really the work of 1496, Bianca really, really a wedding gift. Someone may argue, traces of the stitches are always the same distance from each other. But [in the case of ancient books] the size of the stitches made by hand, differed ».

Technical analysis confirmed that the parchment on which the portrait is drawn, in all respects very similar in physical characteristics of the pages found this book. Martin Kemp explained that the sheets of parchment were made using a complicated technical process by bringing the calf, goat or sheep skin to the desired thickness. Even in one series of sheets of thickness might be a little different, not to mention the different series. The thickness of parchment with a picture almost identical to the thickness of sheets of the book from the library in Warsaw. The volume is even an indentation left by the blade slipped, with which the portrait was carved out of the book.

catechumen before Martin Kemp attribution was supported by several scientists, including an expert on the works of Leonardo Carlo Pedretti (Carlo Pedretti). Another argument in favor of the authenticity of the picture was a study of Canadian expert Peter Paul Biro. Specialist compared the fingerprints found on the supposed portrait of Bianca Sforza with the prints found on another work of Leonardo: they were the same. However, after the work of Jackson Pollock, the authenticity of which confirmed Biro, was bogus, his opinion is no longer regarded as authoritative in the art community.

Christie's experts did not want to accept the version of the Kemp: it is possible to cope with the demands for financial compensation from Joan Marshig (Jeanne Marchig), which in 1998 exhibited the work at auction. Among those who doubt the authenticity of the product - Frank Jacques (Jacques Franck), scientific consultant on the works of Leonardo Louvre. He believes in the anatomy of the girls (in the image of her chest and neck) errors, which could not allow the great Leonardo. However, failures can be attributed to the restorers: we know that controversial work duff. Skeptics also seem convincing argument that other famous works of Leonardo on the parchment does not exist, although it is known that the artist is interested in the possibility of this material.

However, the main objections are based on all still on the New York professionals who are not considered drawing of Leonardo, as he passed examination before the auction Christie's, as well as the dealer Kate Ganz (Kate Ganz), which acquired the work at auction and later (in 2007) sold it to the buyer of Canada - for five-figure sum also.

former owner of Jeanne Marshig lost the case against Christie's on compensation for the expiration of his statute of limitations, however, according to Martin Kemp, she has another reason to to sue the auction house: the fact that the Italian frame in which the portrait was delivered to Christie's, has mysteriously disappeared and was replaced by another - the German.

Representatives of Christie's declined to comment on the situation with the frame, but a company spokeswoman limited following statement: "The authorship of most of the drawings and paintings of old masters is determined by rigorous scientific research. Named as work is still the subject of healthy debate among the world's leading art».

Guardian reports that next year the National Geographic special will remove the film on the study design. Professor Kemp, in turn, in the year ahead promises to publish a monograph on the work, entitled« La Principessa ». In general, in this case it is too early put the point: the dispute about the work promises to continue, concludes Guardian.

Prepared by Mary Estrova, AI

Source : artinvestment.ru