Leonardo's Lost Princess (24 page)

5
. According to various sources, the ten most expensive paintings ever sold are: (1) Jackson Pollock,
No. 5, 1948
, for $140 million (2006; alleged, for the records are in some dispute); (2) Gustav Klimt,
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer
, for $135 million (2006); (3) Pablo Picasso,
Nude, Green Leaves and Bust
, for $106.5 million (2010); (4) Pablo Picasso,
Gar
¸
on à la Pipe
, for $104 million (2004); (5) Pablo Picasso,
Dora Maar with Cat
, for $95.2 million (2006); (6) Vincent van Gogh,
Portrait of Dr. Gachet
, for $82.5 million (1990; one of two versions); (7) Claude Monet,
Le Bassin aux
Nymph
é
as
, for $80,451,178 (2008); (8) Pierre-Auguste Renoir,
Bal au Moulin
de la Galette
, for $78 million (1990); (9) Peter Paul Rubens,
Massacre of the
Innocents
, for $76.7 million (2002); and (10) Vincent van Gogh,
Portrait de l’Artiste sans Barbe
, for $71.5 million (1998).

6
. Vasari,
The Lives of the Artists,
pp. 295–296, provides some details of Leonardo’s work on
The Battle of Anghiari
:

By the excellence of the works of this most divine of artists his fame was grown so great that all who delighted in art, and in fact the whole city, desired to have some memorial of it. And the Gonfalonier and the chief citizens agreed that, the Great Hall of the Council having been rebuilt, Leonardo should be charged to paint some great work there. Therefore, accepting the work, Leonardo began a cartoon [a preliminary sketch in the size of the work] representing the story of Nicolo Piccinino, captain of the Duke Filippo of Milan, in which he drew a group of cavalry fighting for a standard, representing vividly the rage and fury both of the men and the horses, two of which, with their forefeet entangled, are making war no less fiercely with their teeth than those who ride them. We cannot describe the variety of the soldiers’ garments, with their crests and other ornaments, and the masterly power he showed in the forms of the horses, whose muscular strength and beauty of grace he knew better than any other man. It is said that for drawing this cartoon he erected an ingenious scaffolding that could be raised and lowered. And desiring to paint the wall in oil, he made a composition to cover the wall; but when he began to paint upon it, it proved so unsuccessful that he shortly abandoned it altogether.

There is a story that having gone to the bank for the sum which he was accustomed to receive from the Gonfalonier Piero Soderini every month, the cashier wanted to give him some packets of farthings, but he refused to take them, saying, ‘“I am no farthing painter.” As some accused him of having cheated Soderini in not finishing the picture, there arose murmurs against him, upon which Leonardo, by the help of his friends, collected the money and restored it to him, but Piero would not accept it. [This last bit is typical Leonardo; his career was fraught with money issues!]

7
. Mark Irving, “On the Trail of a Lost Leonardo,”
Times
(London), May 16, 2006.

11. The $100 Million Blunder?

1
. The details of this story were provided to me by Jeanne Marchig in a personal interview in February 2010 and an interview with her lawyer, Richard Altman, in January 2011.

2
. Ernest Samuels (
Bernard Berenson: The Making of a Legend
) wrote that a number of portraits owned by Berenson were deposited with Giannino Marchig in 1944. Berenson, who was sequestered in Tuscany during the war, also wrote a diary of the period,
Rumour and Reflection,
1941–1944
, which was published by Simon and Schuster in 1952.

3
. Meryle Secrest,
Being Bernard Berenson: A Biography
(Littlehampton, UK: Littlehampton Book Services, 1980).

4
.
Marchig et al. v. Christie’s Inc.
, 10 Civ. 3624 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 13, 2010).

5
. Judith Bresler, “
Bella Principessa
and the Hazard of Expert Opinion,”
Art Law
, September 2010. Bresler is also the coauthor, with Ralph Lerner, of
Art Law: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers and Artists
(New York: Practising Law Institute, 2009).

6
.
Marchig et al. v. Christie’s Inc
., 10 Civ. 3624 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 31, 2011).

7
. Simon Hewitt, “Marchig Vows to Fight On in ‘Leonardo Case.’”
Antiques Trade Gazette
, March 7, 2011.

12. The Art World Strikes Back

1
. Richard Dorment, “
La Bella Principessa
: A £ 100m Leonardo or a Copy?”
Daily Telegraph
(London), April 12, 2010.

2
. David Grann, “The Making of a Masterpiece,”
New Yorker
, July 12, 2010.

3
. Press release,
www.peterpaulbiro.com
.

4
.
Peter Paul Biro v. Conde Nast,
a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc., David Grann, et al.
Filed June 29, 2011, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

13. What Constitutes Proof?

1
. Kemp and Cotte,
La Bella Principessa
, 187.

2
. Theresa Franks, “Getting to the Truth of Authentication,” Fine Arts Registry, December 17, 2006. The Fine Arts Registry (
www.fineartsregistry.com
) is a registration system for art, purporting to ensure authenticity.

3
. Kemp and Cotte,
La Bella Principessa
, 9.

4
. Turner, “Statement by Nicholas Turner Concerning the Portrait on Vellum by Leonardo.”

5
. Kemp and Cotte,
La Bella Principessa
, 8.

6
. Theresa Franks, “Getting to the Truth of Authentication.”

7
. “Man, Myth and Sensual Pleasures,” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 5, 2010–January 17, 2011, and at the National Gallery, London, February 23–May 30, 2011.

8
. Giovanni Morelli,
Italian Painters: Critical Studies of Their Works
(London: John Murray, 1900).

9
. Walter Pater,
Studies in the History of the Renaissance
(Charleston: Bibliolife, 2011; orig. 1873), viii.

10
. Bernard Berenson,
The Italian Painters of the Renaissance
(London: Phaidon, 1953), ix.

11
. Thomas Hoving, “Becoming an Art Connoisseur,” Art Appreciation,
Dummies.com
,
www.dummies.com/how-to/content/becoming-an-art-connoisseur.html
.

12
. John Gapper, “The Forger’s Story,”
Financial Times
, January 21, 2011.

14. Miracle in Warsaw

1
. Pascal Cotte and Martin Kemp, “La Bella Principessa and the Warsaw Sforziad,” September 28, 2011. The full report is available at
www.lumiere-technology.com
.

2
. Simon Hewitt, “New Evidence Strengthens Leonardo Claim for Portrait,”
ATG
, October 3, 2010.

3
. Dalya Alberge, “Is This Portrait a Lost Leonardo?”
Guardian
, September 27, 2011.

4
. “The Mystery of Leonardo da Vinci’s 13th Portrait Elucidated,”
Le Figaro
, September 30, 2011.

5
. “Martin Kemp on Lost Leonardos,” Artinfo.com, October 14, 2011.

Epilogue: Life’s Fleeting Grace

1
. Vasari,
The Lives of the Artists
, 297–298.

2
. Kemp and Cotte,
La Bella Principessa
, 190.

Bibliography

Books

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.
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.
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.
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Websites

Art Law Blog:
www.theartlawblogspot.com

Peter Paul Biro:
www.paulbiro.net

Christie’s:
www.christies.com

Martin Kemp:
www.martinjkemp.com

La Bella Principessa
:
www.labellaprincipessa.com

Leonardo da Vinci Museum:
www.museoleonardo.com

Lumiere Technology:
www.lumiere-technology.com

Sotheby’s:
www.sotheby's.com