Rachael as Leonardo's Princess
While teaching portrait painting this week, my assignment was to use Leonardo Da Vinci's (fake?) Princess as a starting point for a painting. The idea came from a painting I did in 2010 which I've included here along with the story from that blog post.
My La Bella Principessa
DMannion
after da Vinci?
acrylic
60" x 40"
Each year members of the Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center reproduce
historic paintings to be sold at auction to support the center. One
year it was Lautrec, this year it’s Leo vs Mike... Leonardo da Vinci
and Michelangelo.
While researching da Vinci, I came across a beautiful
profile of a young woman that had recently been discovered. Once
thought to be a 19th-century painting, “La Bella Principessa,” had
been purchased in 2007 by a Swiss collector for $19,000. In 2009,
forensic art experts found a fingerprint of da Vinci in the
background. Multispectral scans showed layers of work that resembled
da Vinci’s style. Many leading art experts agreed it was the real
thing. It’s value soared to $160 million.
“La Bella Principessa,” was painted on vellum with black,
red, and white chalk, pen and ink and watercolor. Mounted on an oak
panel, it is only 13” by 9.” (My reproduction is five feet tall. )
The girl is believed to be Bianca Sforza, the illegitimate,
conveniently changed to legitimate daughter of a duke of Milan. In
1496, at age 13, she was married off to a captain of the duke’s military
forces. She died a few months later, possibly from an ectopic
pregnancy.
When half finished with my reproduction, I came across an article by
Richard Dorment, recently published in the Telegraph, UK, April 12.
Here’s the
link. Well worth reading!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/7582591/La-Bella-Principessa-a-100m-Leonardo-or-a-copy.html
Richard Dorment lists many reasons why he believes the
painting’s a fake. The detail that stood out to me... the same expert
who used a fingerprint to prove a Jackson Pollock painting which later
proved to be a fake, was the same expert that found the da Vinci
print. I think too many people involved with this painting have
financial interests to gain.
I finished my reproduction which has been purchased. It will not go to auction but the art center will gain.
I now consider My La Bella Principessa a “real” painting of a fake.
Please follow the links to see the original? Leonardo painting (not sure about copyright laws to include image here). Or simply Google Leonardo Da Vinci's Princess for images.
