'Lost' Leonardo da Vinci painting seized by Italy

[n2doc]

A long-lost painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci was confiscated from a bank vault in Switzerland after Italian police said it had been exported illegally and was in danger of being sold for up to £90 million.

Swiss police, acting on a request by their Italian counterparts, seized the portrait of Isabella d’Este, a Renaissance noblewoman, from a private bank vault in Lugano on Tuesday.

After being lost for centuries, the painting was rediscovered in 2013 in a collection of 400 artworks kept in a Swiss vault. The authorities then were alerted to the existence of the painting, but it went missing again.


It turned up again last summer during an investigation into insurance fraud and it later emerged an Italian lawyer was trying to negotiate the sale of the painting for €120 million (£89 million).


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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11402858/Lost-Leonardo-da-Vinci-painting-seized-by-Italy.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. It is just gorgeous, and I'm thrilled that it has been found.

It deserves to be shown widely and not hidden away from public view.

K&R

[onehandle]

2. Swiss vaults.

So many lost treasures in those vaults.

Open them all and show us.

[appalachiablue]

3. Beautiful portrait of Isabella, educated noblewoman of Mantua. The pencil sketch of her

by Leonardo in the Louvre is equally ephemeral. Women lightened their hair with rinses or sun exposure to achieve a golden red or flaxen color like Isabella had. Her beauty was matched by intelligence and charm.