Leonardo da Vinci painting lost for centuries found in Swiss bank vault

Telegraph UK ^ | 3:32PM BST 04 Oct 2013 | Nick Squires By Nick Squires, Rome

[Red Badger]

It was lost for so long that it had assumed mythical status for art historians. Some doubted whether it even existed.

But a 500-year-old mystery was apparently solved today after a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci was discovered in a Swiss bank vault.

The painting, which depicts Isabella d’Este, a Renaissance noblewoman, was found in a private collection of 400 works kept in a Swiss bank by an Italian family who asked not to be identified.

It appears to be a completed, painted version of a pencil sketch drawn by Leonardo da Vinci in Mantua in the Lombardy region of northern Italy in 1499.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger.

[xzins]

happiness is a warm gun

and they keep their value over the years if cared for.

[Bigg Red]

Don’t know much about art, but I think the painting is ugly.

[djf]

The sketch is, IMHO, superior in one respect.
She has far more character and personality, especially the face.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

To One and All:

Please read the article before engaging in ill-informed speculation. After reading it, feel free to indulge ;)

[BenLurkin]

Found in a bank vault?

Hardly “lost”!

[SamAdams76]

Back in those days, you really had a lot of time to dedicate to your craft. People don't draw and paint like da Vinci anymore and nobody writes cantatas like Johann Sebastian Bach.

Then again, da Vinci and Bach did not binge-watch "Breaking Bad" on Netflix. Nor did they spend their weekends watching NFL football and spending a few hours at Buffalo Wild Wings drinking pumpkin beer and consuming mass amounts of overly seasoned chicken parts.

Fact is, there was much less modern distractions back in 1499 or even 1717. Artists had pretty much all day to perfect their craft.

[InvisibleChurch]

Huh! I would think Elvis would have had a lute strung around him. Other than that it looks realistic.

[rabidralph]

“I’m smart! I can do things!”

[MinuteGal]

Remarkably, the writer lazily does not elaborate on his statement that "the painting was found in a private collection of 400 works kept in a Swiss bank vault by an Italian family who asked not to be identified."

"Remarkable" because of the questions which automatically come to any inquiring mind regarding the circumstances surrounding the actual "finding" of this work of art.

How was it "found"? By the bank itself? By Swiss authorities? By Nazi war criminal sleuths? By Italian authorities exerting pressure somewhere? By Interpol? By a lowly clerk who handles vault-openings for customers and decided to take a private peek inside? By a rogue member of the "Italian family" itself?

The circumstances surrounding the "finding" of this painting is as speculative as is the identity of the real artist of the Italian noblewoman's portrait.

Leni

[pabianice]

Looks like a bad postage stamp.

[SunkenCiv]

Da Vinci was on no sleep, so, can’t fault him for not finishing the work. ;’)