The latest controversy about the lost Da Vinci Masterpiece could have made Christie’s auction house $21,000 richer. Martin Kemp, an art historian from the University of Oxford, believes that the mystery painting came from a wedding book. The book was believed to be Da Vinci’s gift to the Duke of Milan’s daughter on her wedding.

"We knew it came from a book, you have the stitch holes and can see the knife cut. Finding it is a miracle in a way. I was amazed," says Kemp on an interview with LiveScience. "When doing historical research on 500-year-old objects … you hardly get the circle completed in this way."

After Kemp presented his evidences, the painting has been among the most controversial topics.

Claims and Evidences

An earlier examination was conducted in a gallery in Vienna claimed that the artwork was not made by Da Vinci. But the new evidences are somewhat convincing the team that it might be true.

Though it was rare to see Da Vinci’s artworks made on vellum, the possibilities are still considered because the material is known in writing and printing. Aside from that, the painting is thought to come from a book since it has three stitch holes that can be seen on the paintings left side. Chalks and ink were also used and not paint.

“The image was probably removed during the 18th century when the book was rebound” Kemp said. He also provided some research materials proving that Leonardo Da Vinci was the only left handed artist between 1481 and 1499.

Verifying Authenticity

Radiocarbon dating is one of the most effective methods to check authenticity of artifacts. This method can check the age of carbon-bearing materials up to 58,000 to 62,000 years. It has been used and gave estimated dates to different types of unknown archeological materials.
Carbon dating works by getting the estimated date through analyzing the normal atoms and the decay atoms present on the material. The accuracy of this method is better compared to the past methods used in verifying authenticity.

The management of Christie’s believed that the painting was created by the Nazarenes, the 19th-century German artists who copied the Renaissance style. However, it was disproved by the results of the radiocarbon dating which estimated the creation of the portrait between 1440 and 1665.