Leonardo da Vinci Painting Discovered

By Robert Simon, PRNE
Wednesday, July 6, 2011

NEW YORK, July 8, 2011 -


    - With Photo

Painting Gains Attribution After Careful Scholarship and
Conservation

A lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci has been identified in an
American collection and will be exhibited for the first time this
November.  Titled Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World) and
dating around 1500, the newly discovered masterpiece depicts a
half-length figure of Christ facing frontally, holding a crystal
orb in his left hand as he raises his right in blessing.  One
of some 15 surviving Leonardo oil paintings, the work will be
included in “Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan,” to
be held at the National Gallery in London from November 9, 2011
until February 5, 2012.  The last time a Leonardo painting was
discovered was in 1909, when the Benois Madonna, now in the
Hermitage in St. Petersburg, came to light.

(Photo:   href="photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110707/NY31957">photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110707/NY31957
)

DOCUMENTED HISTORY

Leonardo’s painting of the Salvator Mundi was long known to have
existed, but was presumed to have been destroyed.  The
composition was documented in two preparatory drawings by Leonardo
and more than 20 painted copies by students and followers of the
artist, as well as a meticulous 1650 etching made after the
original painting by the Bohemian artist Wenceslaus Hollar.

ROYAL PROVENANCE

The recently rediscovered painting was first recorded in the art
collection of King Charles I of England in 1649.  It was sold
after his death, returned to the Crown upon the accession of
Charles II, and later passed to the collection of the Duke of
Buckingham, whose son put it at auction in 1763 following the sale
of Buckingham House (now Palace) to the King.  All trace of
the work was then lost until 1900, when the picture was acquired by
Sir Frederick Cook, but by then the painting had been damaged,
disfigured by overpaint, and its authorship by Leonardo forgotten.
 Cook’s descendants sold the painting at auction in 1958, when
it brought 45 pounds Sterling.  A photograph taken before 1912
records its compromised appearance at that time.  This
photograph has recently been circulated in the media, as has
another photo [with Christ in a red tunic], incorrectly identified
as the (recently rediscovered) work.  In 2005, the painting
was acquired from an American estate and brought to a New York art
historian and private dealer named Robert Simon for study.
 The Salvator Mundi is privately owned and not currently for
sale.

CONSERVATION & AUTHENTICATION

After an extensive conservation treatment, the painting was
examined by a series of international scholars.  An
unequivocal consensus was reached that the Salvator Mundi was the
original by Leonardo da Vinci.  Opinions vary slightly in the
matter of dating, with some assigning the work to the late 1490’s,
and others placing it after 1500.

Scholars were convinced of Leonardo’s authorship due to the
painting’s adherence in style to the artist’s known paintings; the
quality of execution; the relationship of the painting to the two
preparatory drawings; its correspondence to Wenceslaus Hollar’s
etching; its superiority to the numerous versions of the known
composition; and the presence of pentimenti, or changes by the
artist not found in copies.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information about the painting, provenance and
conservation is at href="www.stacybolton.com/leonardo">www.StacyBolton.com/leonardo.

In addition, a scholarly monograph on the painting, titled The
Lost Christ of Leonardo da Vinci, will be published by Yale
University
Press, London, later this year.

Note to Editors:

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA
Photowire. It can be downloaded from
www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at
www.mediapoint.press.net or www.prnewswire.co.uk.

MEDIA CONTACT:   Sara Latham   sara@stacybolton.com
  +1-202-258-3990

.

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