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Leonardo da Vinci Drawing -- for $19,000 !

I'm always fascinated when old paintings by the masters, are discovered in some attic or garage sale. Partly because, I realize there's a lot of fraud, and the entire thing can be bogus. But more so because of the possibility, that it could be real.

In Toronto, there's a portrait, supposedly by Leonardo da Vinci. And there's a forensic art expert involved, because there's a finger print that might prove it really is da Vinci.

The drawing is of a young woman, and a Canadian art collector bought this drawing from the Ganz gallery in New York, on behalf of a Swiss ollector in 2007. He paid about $19,000 for it. Yeah, about the price you could buy an automobile, for something that might not be a da Vinci. But heck, if it is, you're looking at something that could easily bring in $150 million at an auction. You see, it would be the first major piece by Leonardo discovered in 100 years.

Ganz of course came out saying he didn't believe the piece was da Vinci. But really, what can he say at this point? It would be like a baseball card dealer admitting they sold a Honus Wagner to some dude for a buck.

I wondered how a finger print of da Vinci could even be matched with one of his old prints. Turns out, they're trying to match it with Leonardo's "St. Jerone" which is in the Vatican. A lab used a special digital scanner.

Apparently, Leonardo used his hands liberally as part of his painting technique, and fingerprints are found on many of his works. I was the same way in kindergarten, with the finger painting. Dang...if only I had become famous, my mom would've had a fortune hanging on that white refrigerator!

Anywho...carbon dating has been done. And the piece does come from that time period. And during a period when Leonardo was doing a lot of drawing.

I will say...the guy that invested $19,000 and has continued researching this, is sure having fun now. And if it turns out to be a drawing by someone named Mike Andrews, well...I'm guessing he has the oldest and most expensive drawing in existance. And something that will at least make for interesting conversation at dinner parties.

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Comment by Stephen Duncan on October 31, 2009 at 2:26pm: They tell a story at the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown that the hall asked all the townspeople and villagers during the 1970's to look in their attic's and basements for any baseballs, mits, or any memorabilia. Being these houses are over 100+ years old and so many ownerships have stayed in the family, the story goes that all kinds of goodies were found in trunks, boxes, etc... . These items helped the HOF place dates and match items and helped plug information holes in all that pre 1900 baseball lore.