Posted Aug 7, 2012, 9:00 am
A painting found in a Scottish farmhouse may be a lost work of Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci worth more than $150 million.
The oil painting depicts a woman holding a young child and had been collecting dust in Fiona McLaren's home for decades, The Daily Mail reported.
The 59-year-old didn't think much of the work. When she recently fell on hard times, she decided to have it appraised and was astounded to discover its potential worth.
"I showed it to him [auctioneer Harry Robertson] and he was staggered, speechless save for a sigh of exclamation," McLaren told The People.
According to The Daily Mail, the painting may be of Mary Magdalene. It is now being analyzed by experts at the Cambridge University and the Hamilton Kerr Institute.
The painting came into the possession of the McLaren family through her late father George, a doctor who had received it as a gift from a patient in the 1960s.
McLaren inherited the work of art when her father died in 1979, according to the Daily Mail.
Even if it's not a da Vinci original, the painting is believed to be at least from the da Vinci school, possibly created by a pupil in the 16th century, according to Yahoo! News.
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A faded papal bull was found attached to the back of the painting. It reads "Magdalene," McLaren told The People.
1 comment on this story
In the painting I can see the bigger lamb on the top right side. 777 above Mary Magdalene’s head, two faces in the tree on the left, one looks bald left side the other looks like Jesus on the right. Could it be St. Jerome (Guardian of the Redeemer)(give me your sins is what Jesus said to him.) ? Considering it is Mary Magdalene in the picture this makes sense. Da Vinci painted St. Jerome previously It also looks like a bird on her shoulder area and her sleeve as well as child on far left number 6’s appear. Very interesting. You can see it better on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183987/The-lost-da-Vinci-Is-painting-Scottish-farmhouse-masters-lost-works.html