Fresco Clue Launches Hunt for Lost Da Vinci

Probers convinced Battle of Anghiari is hidden behind other painting in Florence

(NEWSER) - Indefatigable art experts believed they've discovered the location of a long-sought Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece hidden behind another painting in Florence. A California team searching for the masterpiece Battle of Anghiari are convinced it's painted on a wall of the Palazzo Vecchio—behind another painting by Giorgio Vasari. They sampled the chemical content of the red, black and beige paint beneath Vasari's fresco, and discovered it matched the paint used on the Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's St. John the Baptist, reports ABC News . An unusual red lacquer typically used for oil painting is also consistent with Da Vinci's plan to do his battle painting in oil, notes researcher Maurizio Seracini, a professor at UC-San Diego. Though much work remains to be done, "the evidence suggests we are searching in the right place," he said. More»

Experts believe copy was painted by artist working alongside da Vinci

(NEWSER) - A stunning art find means that we can now see what Mona Lisa really looked like, say experts at Madrid's Prado Museum. The museum's researchers found that a painting in its vaults long thought to have been just one of dozens of replicas of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was actually painted by a copyist who worked alongside da Vinci as he painted the original, the Guardian reports. More»

'CSI art researchers' aim to find out who she is once and for all

(NEWSER) - Florence researchers are about to excavate the bones of the woman they believe served as the model for Mona Lisa. Their hope is that facial reconstruction will prove once and for all if Lisa Gherardini was the subject of the Leonardo da Vinci portrait that has mesmerized viewers for centuries. The painting has long also been known as La Gioconda, linking it to Gherardini's husband, Francesco del Giocondo, who commissioned da Vinci to paint his wife. Digging will begin later this month at a convent in central Florence where Gherardini was buried in 1542. More»

(NEWSER) - Did Michelangelo actually create a small (16-inch) wooden carving of a crucified Jesus or did the Italian government get taken for a $4 million ride? Some experts believe passionately that the piece, now on exhibit in Naples, is the work of the master. But as the BBC reports, others blast the label as a deliberate ploy by the government to use the religious carving to curry favor with the Catholic church and religious conservatives. More»

Italian lab restores Raphael's landmark painting with cutting edge techniques

(NEWSER) - After a 10-year facelift, an Italian Renaissance landmark is finally ready for its unveiling. Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch underwent extensive renovations that included CAT scans and X-rays, Reuters reports. A Florentine lab removed coverings by early restorers who saved the work, which was smashed in a house collapse more than 460 years ago. "We will celebrate it like the return of our prodigal daughter," said a gallery official. More»