New York art dealer, Kate Ganz, had no idea what she had on her hands when she acquired “Young Girl in Profile in Renaissance Dress” at auction for $19,000 at Christies 12 years ago.  She sold the piece for about the same price just 2 years ago to a Swiss collector.  With a recent and very important discovery, the piece is now valued at $160 million.

Peter Silverman was the man with the eye. He knew right away there was something very distinct about the piece. He asked several experts and had tests run on the piece, using “multispectral” digital technology, that eventually uncovered within the pigment a partial hand print and fingerprint that matched that on file of none other than Leonardo da Vinci.  The piece is believed to have been painted in 1496.

“My one claim to fame in this whole thing is that I saved it from obscurity,” Silverman told CNN.  The portrait will be on display in Sweden this coming March in a show titled  “And There Was Light: The Masters of the Renaissance Seen in a New Light”.

To read the full article from CNN.com, click here

Special thanks to Livi, a friend of Mondo, for letting us know of this fascinating story.  If you hear about art in the news that other Mondo blog readers would enjoy, please email us at info@mondofineart.com

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