Doubt cast over the authenticity of a Leonardo da Vinci painting worth $450-million
Art and history lovers would get the value...
If you are an art and history fanatic or if you just appreciate history then you should read this. When it comes to authenticity and art, they go hand in hand. One doesn't make sense without the other, especially art that comes from the da Vinci time period.
Most recently the 'Salvator Mundi' has come under the microscope regarding it's authenticity.
"The painting, which sold for $450 million at Christie's auction house as a fully authenticated Leonardo da Vinci, has been downgraded by curators at the Prado national museum in Madrid, Spain." (CNN)
This doubt that has been brought to light by the curators at the Prado is the most critical as it is from an esteemed museum. Art history is a serious field that is based on authenticity.
The Prado curator Ana Gonzáles Mozo comments in her catalogue essay that "some specialists consider that there was a now lost prototype (of Leonardo's "Salvator Mundi") while others think that the much-debated Cook version is the original." However, she suggests "there is no painted prototype" by Leonardo." (CNN)
This is all very "da Vinci code" for us and we have to say that it inspires us to go watch the movie. Movies such as the da Vinci code opened up a sense of history and intrigue to many people and we have to say that doesn't just come from thin air.
It obviously holds some truth in it considering that the artwork in question, The Salvator Mundi, was sold for $450million.
In many essays regarding the painting, there are opinions that reveal that the quality of the painting is of a poor nature. "the Gulf "Salvator Mundi," saying that although "an interesting painting, it is not the most personal composition of Leonardo." (CNN)
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