https://newsela.com/articles/fake-leonardo/id/7430/

In Milan, police believe they found an important painting. The police believe that this new-found painting was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian painter and inventor. Leonardo is also very famous for his art works. The Mona Lisa is the most famous of his paintings.

The painting in question shows a woman by the name of Isabella D’Este. The cops had found the painting in a Swiss bank. The cops were originally looking for evidence for a case. The government of Italy would like to know if the piece of art was taken out of the country illegally. The police said the picture was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. A magazine in 2013 had said the same thing. Art lovers were very excited at the idea of a new painting by da Vinci.

The stories of this painting being a work of da Vinci’s has raised the value of the artwork. The apparent worth of the piece of work is $137 million now. The price of artwork goes up and down. Usually works by important artists are more expensive, but when it comes to da Vinci they are shockingly expensive.

Back in da Vinci’s day, artists had workshops. The artists had students who worked with them. One of the experts think one of da Vinci’s students could have painted this piece of art. Da Vinci could have drawn under the paint and might have let his student paint the rest of it. Leonardo had lots of interests, he built things and studied science and arithmetic. So the possibility of one of his students finishing the painting was  around.

I believe that the possibility of it being a student’s work is a big possibility.