Leonardo da Vinci was denied authorship of a painting found in Switzerland

One of the largest experts on the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Carlo Pedretti (director of the Leonardo Center at the University of California), said that he never attributed to the artist a portrait of Isabella d'Este, seized from a Swiss bank.

In 2013, the Italian media wrote that Pedretti saw the hand of the Renaissance master in the found painting and he had no doubt that this was the work of Leonardo. Then the art historian also stated that it was necessary to conduct additional research and understand which fragments could have been written by da Vinci's students.

“I never said it was the work of Leonardo da Vinci. I only said that it deserves further study.” – Carlo Pedretti

ABC

• The portrait of Isabella d'Este was seized by the police on February 10, 2015 from a bank in Lugano. According to law enforcement, the painting belongs to a wealthy Italian family that lives in Switzerland. The canvas was illegally imported into Switzerland, and they wanted to sell it.
• There is a drawing made by Leonardo da Vinci showing Isabella d'Este. It was created in 1499. The work is kept in the Louvre.
• 15 paintings have survived to this day, which definitely belong to the authorship of Leonardo da Vinci.