The Lucan portrait of Leonardo da Vinci is a late 15th- or early 16th-century portrait of a man. The picture was discovered in 2008 in a cupboard of a private house in Italy. In composition, it strongly resembles a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci held by the Uffizi Gallery and is generally believed to be a 19th century forgery. In size, style and medium it resembles a portrait of Leonardo by Cristofano dell'Altissimo, painted posthumously for the Medici and also held by the Uffizi. The painting was previously thought by its owners to represent Galileo but on its discovery a claim was made that it is a self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci. Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci at Vinci, said in 2011 that he had excluded the possibility that it was a self-portrait but that the painting "remains intriguing because it adds a new element to the Leonardo puzzle". Painted in tempera grassa on panel, 60 by 44 centimetres (24 in × 17 in), it depicts a man in three-quarter view, with a long beard and wearing a dark hat. In 2019 it was exhibited in Madrid along with other material related to Leonardo. It is usually in the Museo delle Antiche Genti di Lucania (Museum of the Ancient Peoples of Lucania) in Vaglio Basilicata, a region of Southern Italy. In 2008, Nicola Barbatelli, Director of the Museo, discovered the painting, attributed it to Leonardo, and gave it the name Lucan portrait, from Lucania, the ancient name of Basilicata. In 2010 a conference was held at which a team comprising David Bershad, Professor at University of Calgary (Canada); Peter Hohenstatt, Professor at the University of Parma; Felice Festa, Professor of Orthodontics and Gnathology at the D'Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara; and Nicola Barbatelli, presented the findings in support of Barbatelli's attribution. In 2017, the University of Malta refused permission for an exhibition in which the Lucan portrait was meant to be the centrepiece, citing doubts by its art history department over the attribution to Leonardo. Nicola Barbatelli has however dismissed this decision, stating that the university did not have academics "with sufficient expertise on the subject".
Provenance The painting was found in 2008 by Nicola Barbatelli, director of the Museo delle Antiche Genti di Lucania, in the private collection of an aristocratic family at Acerenza, a village on the river Bradano near Potenza in Basilicata. The family, who asked to remain anonymous, believed it to be a portrait of Galileo. According to Professor Peter Hohenstatt of the University of Parma, the portrait is listed on page 116 of Napoli Antica e Moderna, vol. I (1815) edited by Abate Domenico Romanelli, as being the work of Leonardo da Vinci and located in the Palazzo Baranello nella strada Cedronia of the Duke of Baranello, of the noble family Russo.
Description
The painting, in tempera grassa on a wooden panel made of poplar 60 by 44 centimetres (24 in × 17 in) is of a man dressed in a dark garment, wearing a black hat with a small upturned brim. The man's skin is pale, his eyes blue, and his hair and beard are greying. The figure is set against a dark greyish monochrome background and is brightly lit from the left of the picture, illuminating the right-hand side of the sitter's face, and casting a shadow across the left-hand side. The gaze of the figure is turned towards the viewer. The identification of this portrait as Leonardo da Vinci is based upon comparison with several representations of the artist, including a very similar portrait in the Uffizi, the red chalk portrait in Turin and the red chalk portrait by Francesco Melzi in Windsor, and others. The panel is constructed of two main vertical sections of wood of irregular width and joined with two inset butterfly joints. There are narrow horizontal sections of timber at the top and bottom of the panel. These sections have half-lapped mitre joints to the verticals, visible at the front of the panel. The rear of the panel has the words "PINXIT MEA" painted on it. It is written in Roman capital letters, in "mirror writing" so that the whole inscription is reversed and reads from right to left. The inscription runs down the left side of the reverse of the painting, rather than across it. The image on the panel is painted using a mixture of egg and oil as a medium over a ground of white gesso, which is visible in damaged areas and on parts of the back of the panel. The surface of the paint has cracked down the main joint and separated in several other places. There are several areas of abrasion to the surface of the painting, the most serious damage being two scrapes across the face, one of which extends from the nostril across the corner of the eye to the brim of his hat, and another which extends from the nostril to the pupil. It is apparent that there is some overpainting to the subject's left eye and cheek, and probably the mouth. There is a small curling white feather adorning the hat, which is an apparent addition.
Analysis
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
