The work was considered a copy, and in 2005, sold at auction for 15 thousand pounds. After restoration, art historians have proven that this is the original, which is worth about 2 million pounds

In the portrait of French Emperor Napoleon recognized the work of the famous French painter Jacques-Louis David. A portrait, whose whereabouts were unknown last two centuries, was discovered in new York, and the last time it was sold in about a hundredth part of his real stoimosti@

Jacques-Louis David painted a portrait of Napoleon about 1813, when Britain and Prussia threatened occupation of France. The artist depicted the Emperor in the form of the national guard, ready to defend their country from invaders. He poses in his usual pose, with right hand placed under the buttons casola@

it is Known that the portrait was in the castle of Edinburgh Scottish family the silk screening of Warhol-Norton. As the work of the French artist was unknown in Scotland, but if we remember that both these countries have always been against England, the existence of a portrait of Napoleon in Scotland looks quite natural. In 1988, the portrait was donated by Eva Sardinia the silk screening of Warhol-Norton (Eva Sardinia Borthwick-Norton) Royal Scottish Academy. However, in this art organizations collect exclusively Scottish authors, and therefore the portrait of Napoleon, it was decided to sell. A number of auction houses examined, the results of which work found a copy of the paintings of Jacques-Louis David. In 2005, the work was sold to a private new York collector about 15 thousand funtov@

the New owner has restored the painting, then turned to Simon Lee of the University of reading for another examination. The specialist compared the portrait with other works of Jacques-Louis David and copies of his works. In addition to the signature of Jacques-Louis David, after cleaning the canvas was discovered the date "1813" and one signed "Rouget". I mean Georges Rouget (Georges Rouget), a former student of David's for over 10 years. To some it may appear that having a second signature refutes the authenticity of the work, however, in this case the opposite is true: the autograph of "Rouget" is that thing real. In the workshop of David his pupil Rouge often had to transfer to canvas the figure, the main lines of the composition, sketching out rough paint. After that, Jacques-Louis David began to turn this "blank" in their work — wrote out the details, facial features, etc. Must be Rouge, leaving his autograph, knew what was going to paint it later, but for him it was still a small act of defiance, their approval seaslug@

Now the canvas is estimated at about 2 million pounds. The last time another portrait of David at a public auction in 2006 was sold for for 2.14 million funtov@

Material was prepared by Maria Onuchin, AI

Источники: artdaily.com, bbc.co.uk, artinvestment.ru