Experts Buzzing Over 'New' Da Vinci in Boston

Museum said to be appraising previously unknown painting

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 31, 2009 5:08 AM CST | Updated Dec 31, 2009 6:18 AM CST

(Newser) – A last-minute contender for art find of the decade may have turned up in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, but officials are remaining tight-lipped about the possibly stupendous discovery. Rumors are spreading that the museum has a previously unknown Leonardo da Vinci painting in its possession. Fewer than 20 da Vinci paintings—including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper—are known to exist, and such a find would rank with uncovering a new Shakespeare play, the Washington Post notes.

A museum spokeswoman refused to comment on "works that the MFA may be studying," and refused to confirm or deny whether officials were in the process of authenticating a da Vinci. Renaissance painting expert Miguel Falomir Faus, however, tells the Post that he has been discussing the new da Vinci with another expert, although he stresses that neither of them have actually laid eyes on the work.

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This portrait of Leonardo da Vinci dates from around 1500. (Getty Images)

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If you want to invoke some idea of mystery, of genius, of secrets, then Leonardo's your man. - New York University art history professor Alex Nagel

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Experts Buzzing Over 'New' Da Vinci in Boston