Noah Charney, founder and president of ARCA, has recently published three articles covering the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 (The Patriotic Thief); an Interview with Martin Kemp on How to Spot a Lost Leonardo; and on the Los Angeles Time's Op Ed Page, The 'Lost' Leonardo, about London's National Gallery's exhibition of 'Salvator Mundi' in a show of paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Marquis de Ganay Collection Paris
ReplyDeleteSalvator Mundi, Savior of The World
Salvator Mundi Savior of The World the Leonardo, da Vinci Research Group It is our very strong considered opinion, backed up by substantial study, that this painting in blue must be reviewed further in light of our mounting weight of proof that the painting is "NOT" the work of Leonardo, but that of another lesser talent. Owner Robert Simon, in New York, the historians, all the scholars involved, the restorer, technical people, the team Simon put together, and The National Gallery of England, need to understand the "INTENT" of Leonardo, da Vinci the "Master" in order to make a proper assessment of the painting. It is this added dimension that is missing from the traditional authentication methods that has led to, in our opinion, an incorrect validation.This painting, not having been the work of Leonardo, da Vinci but perhaps a student, contains many changes, but does not have the subtle trademark processes that Leonardo put into his works of art.It is a well-documented fact that Leonardo, da Vinci had a philosophy and penchant for infusing science and mathematics, with extreme accuracy into his every artistic endeavor. It leads to the supposition that his artworks would reflect his almost obsessive search for truth and accurate portrayal of everything around him. The artworks after all were an extension of the expression of his scientific studies. Using what is known about Leonardo from his writings and codex’s as a starting point to review the Salvatore Mundi original and "restored" images, yields a number of anomalies in the restored painting that are inconsistent with Leonardo's techniques, and his uniquely accurate portrayal of geometric symmetry, color, shadowing and scaling.The painting,Once owned by Marquis de Ganay "Salvator Mundi" was auctioned by Sotheby's May 1999 in its "Important Old Masters Paintings" auction. It sold for $332,500.
According to The City Review:
and was crafted in "Red and Blue clothing, and is also in our opinion, the authentic Salvator Mundi painted by Leonardo, da Vinci. A detailed analysis of the measurements and proportions is a very telling indication of authenticity because of the clearly perfect alignment. Leonardo's technique of ensuring perfect ratios and accurate alignment in his Salvatore Mundi painting may be compared to the tolerances of those in his Vitruvian Man and other of his works.
Who purchased the painting for $325,500 in 1999 and how many owners has it had since then?
The crucial question is: When was it restored?
Before the 1999 auction it can be seen in its present state: here and here.
Some are numbers, some are letters, and many are in "MICRO FORM", a process Leonardo invented to hide his intended messages. It is unfortunate that the scholars are locked into a process that fails to consider motivation and intent because we firmly believe that these are key criteria against which Leonardo's, and the works of other artists of the period, must be tested. As a result of our findings we strongly recommend that the "Blue" painting be reevaluated against the additional criteria we have found to be hallmarks found in all of Leonardo's works. We believe that this reevaluation will yield the finding that this is "NOT" the work of Leonardo.
By Michael W. Domoretsky
Lionardo,da Vinci Research Group