Long lost Leonardo.

[barracuda]

Scholars authenticate a painting that was missing for centuries

by Milton Esterow

A painting by Leonardo da Vinci that was lost for centuries has been authenticated by distinguished scholars in the United States and Europe and will be exhibited at London's National Gallery as part of a Leonardo show that opens November 9, ARTnews has learned.

The painting, Salvator Mundi, or "Savior of the World," depicts Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding a globe. It is painted in oil on a wood panel and measures 26 by 18 1/2 inches in size.

"It's up there with any artistic discovery of the last 100 years," said one scholar.

The work is owned by a consortium of dealers, including Robert Simon, a specialist in Old Masters in New York and Tuxedo Park, N.Y. It was reportedly bought at an estate sale in the United States about six or seven years ago. Simon declined to comment about the painting, the price, or the location of the auction. "I've been asked not to discuss it," he said.

One scholar said that the consortium had turned down an offer of $100 million for the painting. "I was told they're asking $200 million for it," he told me.

Simon brought the panel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art about two years ago to have it examined by several curators and conservators. "It was brought in for inspection in the conservation studio," said a person close to the Metropolitan who asked not to be identified. "The painting was forgotten for years. When it turned up at auction, Simon thought it was worth taking a gamble. It had been heavily overpainted, which makes it look like a copy. It was a wreck, dark and gloomy. It had been cleaned many times in the past by people who didn't know better. Once a restorer put artificial resin on it, which had turned gray and had to be removed painstakingly. When they took off the overpaint, what was revealed was the original paint. You saw incredibly delicate painting. All agree it was painted by Leonardo."

The work was shown last year to curators at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Frederick Ilchman, the museum's curator of paintings, declined to comment.

It was also brought to the National Gallery in London about 18 months ago. Nicholas Penny, director of the museum, and Luke Syson, curator of the forthcoming exhibition, invited four Leonardo scholars to see the work in the museum's conservation studio. "We have something interesting to show you," Penny told them.

The scholars were Carmen C. Bambach, curator of drawings and paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Pietro Marani, who directed the restoration of Leonardo's Last Supper in Milan; Maria Teresa Fiorio, author of many books on the Renaissance, including a biography of Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, considered by many to be Leonardo's best student; and Martin Kemp, professor emeritus of art history at Oxford University, who has spent more than 40 years studying Leonardo. Simon also attended.

"There was a lot of excitement," said a scholar who was briefed on the session. "Some were somewhat reticent, but there was general acceptance. Christ's garment is painted in blue with a miraculous softness."

He added: "It has been damaged and overpainted. It is not unusual for an Old Master to have been heavily restored. Paint has been lost, which is not surprising. The condition is not immaculate, but there is enough to convey an excellent impression."

The "Salvator Mundi" theme was popularized by Netherlandish artists such as Jan van Eyck and Albrecht Durer and taken up in Italy during the Renaissance.

The first documented owner of the painting, according to one source, was King Charles I of England. "After he was executed, it went to Charles II. Then it becomes problematic. There is a gap between the 17th century and the 19th century."

The painting was acquired by a British collector, Sir Francis Cook (1817–1901). According to the Burlington Magazine, he had "extraordinary pictures," including works by Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, van Eyck, Velázquez, and Rembrandt. In the late 1940s, the painting was exhibited in England with other works from the Cook collection. It was listed as "Milanese School (c. 1500)." In 1958 it was sold by trustees of the Cook collection at Sotheby's London for 45 pounds. The catalogue stated that the work was by Boltraffio.

One of the other Leonardos in the National Gallery show is Lady with an Ermine, from the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland. A curator told me that the National Gallery had reportedly paid $800,000 to borrow the work for the show.

"When Lady with an Ermine was discovered many years ago, it was not uniformly accepted," said a scholar. "It seeped into general acceptance."

The National Gallery show, which will run through February 5, 2012, examines Leonardo's years at the court of Ludovico Sforza, ruler of Milan. Last May, Syson told a reporter for the Guardian in London that to get the loan of only one of Leonardo's 14 paintings would be something of an achievement, but to get seven was "miraculous."

Penny, the Guardian reported, called the show "a great triumph of diplomacy with paintings leaving museums in Italy and France for the first time."

The emergence of the Salvator Mundi at the exhibition has not gone without criticism. One curator said, "A lot of eyebrows were raised when it was heard that the gallery would include a work that's on the market for such a huge sum."

The painting before restoration.

[Project Willow]

The psychological presence of the subject reveals the work of a master's hand in either incarnation.

[brainpanhandler]

Fascinating.

The "overpainting" appears to have been a deliberate defacement with specific intent as opposed to someone simply recyling an old painting.

The original, despite having a beard, appears much more feminine to me.

Listing the changes made by the last overpainting:

1) Halo removed? Or is that damage from a halo that was added and then removed?

2) Beard removed

3) eyes look left as opposed to right

4) cheesy mustache added

5) Subtle glow around christ's head removed?


In fact the face is so changed that the overpainting almost appears as though it is a portrait of a living person, although that would have been pretty blasphemous. No?

And what is up with that thing in his left hand the article calls a globe? It looks to me like a crystal ball that's been rendered in an unnatural way.

And what's with that sign he's making with his right hand? (btw - as an over painter I'd have put a joint in his fingers)



Lots of questions.

[MacCruiskeen]

All good points, bph. There's something positively Francis-Baconish about that b&w image above. (Is it an x-ray?)



And it's certainly a very feminine-looking Christ, both in the restored and unrestored versions. Those sweeping, razor-thin, plucked eyebrows are worthy of Christiano Ronaldo. Or Pamela Anderson.

Compare and contrast with some other Leonardo Christs:

[Canadian_watcher]

I'm intrigued that in the restored version there are three crosses:

The crossed fingers
The cross across his chest
The cross in the sphere.

It would be interesting to know what the message might be in that.

[Project Willow]

And it's certainly a very feminine-looking Christ, both in the restored and unrestored versions. Those sweeping, razor-thin, plucked eyebrows are worthy of Christiano Ronaldo. Or Pamela Anderson.

The emergence of the Salvator Mundi at the exhibition has not gone without criticism. One curator said, "A lot of eyebrows were raised when it was heard that the gallery would include a work that's on the market for such a huge sum."

The hair looks a bit course.

[MacCruiskeen]

If you look at it from the neck down only, then it certainly does look more like a woman than a man.

Curiouser and curiouser.

[barracuda]

The "overpainting" appears to have been a deliberate defacement with specific intent as opposed to someone simply recyling an old painting.

In the past, virtually any painting with significant deterioration would have been extensively overpainted, perhaps time and again. It was not the custom to display crappy looking, falling-apart paintings in one's household. Here's an engraving made of the painting about 1650:

The hair looks a bit coarse.

I think the engraving shows that the hair had been changed by the overpainting, that is, the engraving's hair resembles the restored version more than the overpainted one, especially on the left side of the canvas. But the black and white photo of the unrestored painting is hard to mine for significant details.

In fact the face is so changed that the overpainting almost appears as though it is a portrait of a living person, although that would have been pretty blasphemous. No?

The restored version is probably based upon a living model as well, considering Da Vinci's usual techniques of drawing from life.

And what is up with that thing in his left hand the article calls a globe? It looks to me like a crystal ball that's been rendered in an unnatural way.

The globus cruciger is standard iconography within the visual tradition of Salvator Mundi representations. You can see in the folds of the blue garment just above the globe that a surmounting cross has been removed at some time in the past, as well as the supporting armature which surrounds the globe itself. Hard to say, but these changes probably adversely affected the original conception, and so we get a sort of muddied representation.

And what's with that sign he's making with his right hand? (btw - as an over painter I'd have put a joint in his fingers)

He's making a blessing in a modified form of the Christogram:



The crossed fingers in his blessing are meant to form an image of the the Greek letter "X", as the first initial of the word "XRICTOC", Christ.

In a painting such as this, virtually every detail is a coded form of message to the initiate. For example, the ruby set in the eight-pointed star on his chest and the delicate knotwork underneath his shield are set down as having codified meanings beyond the merely decorative. The pyramidical composition itself is likely a reference to the mysterious tri-partite form of the Christian godhead as Chist the Father, Christ the Son, and Christ the Holy Ghost. Taken as a whole the properly instructed individual would perceive a metaphysical lesson from such a work, undoubtably one which has to do with the eschatological nature of the theme itself, the ultimate destiny of mankind held in the sway of the blessing of the ruler of the earth and heavens.

The intense depth of meaning set in every detail of the work can be noted even in the drapery of Christ's garment - notice the unusual fold to the lower left of the central ruby? This vestment tuck is a symbol of the spear wound received by Christ upon the cross, the wound which, of all those inflicted upon Christ, is laden with the most meaning, as it both fulfilled the prophesy of Zacharias, but was the only wound inflicted after Christ's death. The vestment tuck may also be a sigil of some sort, having a specific meaning to the commisioner of the work, or to those in the artist's inner circle.

Many, many levels at work here.

[brainpanhandler]

Not knowing much about the history of crystal balls beyond the gypsy fortune teller stereotype I went to wiki for more info:

Celtic tribes, known to exist in Britain as early as 2000 BC, were unified by a priesthood known as Druids. Druids are one of the earliest known peoples to have used crystals in divination. It is interesting to note that Druid religion had similarities to megalithic religion of an "earlier" Britain, thus it is possible the first use of crystal divination might have come from them.[citation needed]

Later, during central Europe's Medieval Period (AD 500–1500), seers, wizards, sorcerers, psychics, gypsies, fortune tellers, and all other types of diviners also used crystals to "see" into the past, present, or future.[citation needed]

Due to its transparent nature, a natural gemstone called beryllium aluminum silicate (beryl) was often used for divination. Scottish Highlanders termed these objects "stones of power." Though early crystal balls were made from beryl, they were later replaced by rock crystal, an even more transparent rock.

...

Dr. John Dee (July 13, 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was a noted British mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He also devoted much of his life to alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. He was known for his use of crystal balls in his work.

One of my favorite artists, John William Waterhouse:


The Crystal Ball

Perhaps it's Da Vinci's coded way of saying On Earth as it is in Heaven/as above so below since crystal balls do this:



edit: globus cruciger eh?

[Stephen Morgan]

Clearly the new version has been modeled to resemble a lion, hence the funny slant to the eyes and the eyebrows which delineate shape without the appearance of hair. And therefore they've ruined his tache.

Very unwise choice of clothing, doesn't compliment his natural colouring and that neckline is all wrong. And what are those straps across the chest? Is he a parachutist?

The sign by the right hand is the traditional hand gesture of blessing.

The three crosses clearly represent the trinity, and the indisputable fact that Leonardo was as orthodox in his religious views as in his way of life.

Mac, you must have some burly girls up your way.

barry, I believe the spear of longinus pierced the right side.

[barracuda]

barry, I believe the spear of longinus pierced the right side.

Yes, just as represented in the Salvator Mundi painting, on Christ's right side.

[norton ash]

Dan Brown probably has a team of unpaid interns on this story, looking for clues, plagiarizing and making shit up.

[Project Willow]

The hair looks a bit coarse.

Thank you for correcting my spelling.

[MacCruiskeen]

Mac, you must have some burly girls up your way.

Oh yes, I live in Germany.

[Laodicean]

Not knowing much about the history of crystal balls beyond the gypsy fortune teller stereotype I went to wiki for more info:

Celtic tribes, known to exist in Britain as early as 2000 BC, were unified by a priesthood known as Druids. Druids are one of the earliest known peoples to have used crystals in divination. It is interesting to note that Druid religion had similarities to megalithic religion of an "earlier" Britain, thus it is possible the first use of crystal divination might have come from them.[citation needed]

Later, during central Europe's Medieval Period (AD 500–1500), seers, wizards, sorcerers, psychics, gypsies, fortune tellers, and all other types of diviners also used crystals to "see" into the past, present, or future.[citation needed]

Due to its transparent nature, a natural gemstone called beryllium aluminum silicate (beryl) was often used for divination. Scottish Highlanders termed these objects "stones of power." Though early crystal balls were made from beryl, they were later replaced by rock crystal, an even more transparent rock.

...

Dr. John Dee (July 13, 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was a noted British mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He also devoted much of his life to alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. He was known for his use of crystal balls in his work.

One of my favorite artists, John William Waterhouse:


The Crystal Ball

Perhaps it's Da Vinci's coded way of saying On Earth as it is in Heaven/as above so below since crystal balls do this:



edit: globus cruciger eh?

I instantly thought of a Palantir (yep, from Lord of the Rings). A seeing stone.