Modern Mysteries

Leonardo Da Vinci mystery to stay hidden

By T.K. Randall
September 26, 2012 ·  5 comments

Image Credit: Leonardo Da Vinci Often likened to Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code", the whereabouts of Da Vinci's "The Battle of Anghiari" remains a mystery. The painting was commissioned by officials of the time to commemorate a military victory in 1440 and records indicate that Da Vinci started work on it in 1505. The work was never completed however due to problems he encountered as a result of a new type of paint application process he was experimenting with.

Today the original work remains undiscovered and the only indication of what it had been like comes in the form of preparatory sketches and copies. A recent project to investigate the idea that the painting was behind a fresco in Florence initially provided promising results but was ultimately canceled due to concerns over damage to the overlying mural.[!gad]Often likened to Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code", the whereabouts of Da Vinci's "The Battle of Anghiari" remains a mystery. The painting was commissioned by officials of the time to commemorate a military victory in 1440 and records indicate that Da Vinci started work on it in 1505. The work was never completed however due to problems he encountered as a result of a new type of paint application process he was experimenting with.

Today the original work remains undiscovered and the only indication of what it had been like comes in the form of preparatory sketches and copies. A recent project to investigate the idea that the painting was behind a fresco in Florence initially provided promising results but was ultimately canceled due to concerns over damage to the overlying mural.

Source: NBC News | Comments (5)

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