Leonardo's Secrets...

Truely magnificent stuff! Da Vinci and Vermeer are both "must-sees" in my book. Don't miss an opportunity to see a Da Vinci in person if you ever get the chance. I remember spending two hours just looking at Lady With an Ermine...

--ryan



Unseen Da Vinci Work Goes On Show
A previously unseen painting by Leonardo da Vinci has gone on public display for the first time in Italy.

Da Vinci created the version of the painting known as Virgin of the Rocks with his student Giampetrino between 1495 and 1497.

It is being exhibited at Ancona's Mole Vanvitelliana museum alongside a portrait of Mary Magdalene, also said to have been painted by the pair.

However historians say the portrait may have been painted by Giampetrino alone.

Semi-naked

Virgin of the Rocks shows Mary sitting in a grotto with Jesus, Saint John and the archangel Uriel.

Two other versions of the painting are kept at the Louvre in Paris and in London's National Gallery.

The latest version was found three years ago in a private Swiss collection, along with the semi-naked portrait of Mary Magdalene.

Unseen for 50 years, the portrait was believed to have been completed by Da Vinci with Giampetrino's help in 1515, four years before the master's death.

Depicting Mary Magdalene holding a veil over her bare breasts, if it is proved to be an authentic Da Vinci it would be one of the master's very few paintings of a nude.

Art historian Carlo Pedretti believed Giampetrino was unlikely to have created the portrait alone, but said further examination was necessary.

"There is no painting by Leonardo or by the Leonardo school of which the authenticity can be ascertained by just laboratory examinations," he said.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/4344512.stm

Published: 2005/10/15 10:30:02 GMT

© BBC MMV