This painting, which was sold in auction as "German, Early 19th Century" has gone from being worth $19,000 to millions overnight. The new owner who won it decided to give the painting a thorough checkup, whereupon a fingerprint was found. It matched another found on a confirmed da Vinci portrait.
Peter Silverman, the Canadian-born owner, thought there was more to it and decided to get the drawing checked out after buying it in 2007.
His hunch appears to have paid off.
A Paris laboratory discovered that a fingerprint from the tip of an index or middle-finger, found on the top left of the picture, was "highly comparable" to one found on da Vinci's work St Jerome, which he painted early in his career when he did not have assistants, according to the Antiques Trade Gazette.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by dontyoukeep.
Please consider in the annuals of art history how many paintings have been successfully attributed by way of "finger print"- zero to my knowledge. Note also the absence of any of the leading museums (The Met, the National Gallery either in Washington or London, to cite a few) who are offering to vouche or exhibit this work. Those who have seen it with whom I've spoken agree that it is period, and beautiful, and heavily and extensively restored. No other colored drawings, no other works on vellum, no other stark profile portraits exist by DaVinci. While hope springs eternal, the bottom line is Silvermann has been hawking this thing around for a few years now, DaVinci paintings are arguably the most desirable art object on the planet- yet this remains unsold. There have been a few paintings by various artists sold in the $100,000,000+ range in the last few years; so far buyers who do their homework end up with serious doubts regarding the full attribution of this one.
I do love Neatorama, however.
and yea that sounds skeptical to me as well. the price all of a sudden jacks up so much it is ridiculous. respect da vinci and everything he did, but i could never get the appeal of something done by someone so main stream. but again, how many art collectors out there are really knowledgeable about art and have a true passion about collecting the piece of work without a single thought of the value of the painting?
In the documentary Who the F*ck is Jackson Pollack?, the painting in question is ascribed to Jackson Pollack based on a fingerprint.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_the_fuck_is_Jackson_PollackWho the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?"
Hundreds of years later my painting is found with his fingerprint on it. That makes it his?? I don't think so.
I appreciate your desire to "root for the little guy" and to believe anything's possible. I suppose Jackson Pollack might still be living in a cave, having faked his death, and is churning out canvases as we speak. It's POSSIBLE!!
But what has been used (for authentification) for at least the last century has been the scholarship and experiance of those who have spent a lifetime studying the technique of any of these artists, and "knowing them", if you will, to a degree that they become the leading arbiters in the field. Carbon dating, thermoluminesce, finger printing (and I repeat I know of NOT ONE case where that has been used successfully to prove an attribution) are basically an American approach to scientifically quantify connoisseurship, to make up in instant numbers and tests what experts have spent their entire life developing. And at times they are needed and valid. But for autheticity of art work? If I'm not mistaken, the Pollack still has yet to be sold as well, no?
And I do not subscribe to the belief that this is simply elitism from the artmarket preventing "ordinary" people from reaping their just rewards. Lots of people from all walks of life make hits of varying sizes in the art market- dealers are primarily interested in making money, not maintaining class boundries. But every now and then an idiot thinks that they have made a huge hit and when they are not accepted by the experts, by the museums, by the auction houses (who will gladly attempt to sell items for you) they then turn to the media who loves to write these things up. The people who actually buy smaller items and re-sell them for significant profits keep their mouths shut for a variety of reasons, least of all, nobody likes to give somebody else 10,000% profit! You can believe what hype you read, but when you are in it day to day, this sort of self-promotional approach seen here is recognized by the trade as the "last refuge of scoundrels" (to mis-quote Johnson).
my last post on the subject- Good day.
@ Ashley
That would certainly suck wouldn't it! ;)
idiot. with the fingerprints we do not have
sold paintings because of people with no MORAL like you. There is no LAW FOR THAT. THEY DID NOT WANT THAT LAW FOR SO MANY YEARS !!!???
BUT NOW WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS NEW LAW. AND THE IDIOTS " EXPERTS " CAN GO TO .......
NOW. UNTIL NOW WE DO NOT HAVE THE LAW FOR THAT. WE NEED NEW ART LAW. THE ART " EXPERTS " DID NOT WANT THAT FOR A LONG TIME. THEY ARE UNMORAL PEOPLE.
LIERS !!!!!
THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ART AT ALL. AND THEY NEVER , NEVER TELL THE TRUTH !!!!!!!!
ALL OF THEM ARE UNMORAL PEOPLE. WHY THEY ARE IN ART ?
HOW WE CAN HAVE FORENSICE EXPERTISE FOR ONE CUP BY THE LAW BUT NOT FOR A PAINTING !?
IF SOMEONE STOLE YOUR CAR YOU CAN HAVE CRIME EXPERTISE BUT NOT FOR YOUR PAINTING !!!?? THEY MADE THAT , THE IDIOTIC " EXPERTS ". THEY KEEP DEPRIVING PEOPLE OF THEY PROPERTY WITH THEY " OPINIONS ".