1억 파운드(약 1천744억원)를 호가하는 레오나르도 다빈치의 작품이 위조 화가의 그림이라는 주장이 제기돼 영국 미술계가 진위 논란에 휩싸였다.
29일(현지시간) 인디펜던트 등 영국 언론에 따르면 영국의 위조 화가로 유명한 숀 그린헐은 신간 회고록 '한 위조 화가의 이야기'에서 다빈치의 작품으로 알려진 '라 벨라 프린치페사'(La Bella Principessa·아름다운 공주)가 자신의 작품이라고 주장했다.
그는 회고록에서 1978년 이 그림을 그렸으며, 그림의 주인공인 땋은 머리를 한 젊은 여성은 슈퍼마켓 계산대 여종업원을 모델로 했다고 밝혔다.
이는 '라 벨라 프린치페사'가 다빈치의 작품으로, 그림 속의 여성은 1490년대 그의 후원자 가운데 한 사람의 부인으로 보인다는 전문가들의 견해를 완전히 부정한 것이다.
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(Yonhap) |
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Forger claims Da Vinci masterpiece is supermarket checkout girl
One of Britain’s most notorious art forgers has claimed responsibility for what is believed to be a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece, saying it was inspired by a supermarket checkout girl, the Sunday Times reported.
Experts agree that Da Vinci created “La Bella Principessa” in the 15th century, but Shaun Greenhalgh, who has spent time in jail for art forgery, claims he made the chalk and ink drawing when he worked at a supermarket in Bolton, northern England.
“I drew this picture in 1978 when I worked at the Co-op (supermarket),” wrote Greenhalgh in new book “A Forger’s Tale,” extracts of which appeared in the Sunday Times.
“The ‘sitter’ was based on a girl called Sally who worked on the checkouts,” he added. “Despite her humble position, she was a bossy little bugger and very self-important.”
Experts concluded in 2008 that the profile of a blonde-haired woman was a “remarkable drawing by Leonardo”, and it has since been exhibited as a da Vinci in Italy and valued at 100 million ($150 million, 142 million euros).
Greenhalgh, who was arrested in 2006 and jailed for four years and eight month, claims he used an 1587 council document for the canvas and schooldesk lid as the backing.
While executing the artwork, he turned it 90 degrees clockwise to mimic da Vinci’s left-handed style, he wrote.
However, a laboratory recently released evidence suggesting the chalk pigment was at least 250 years old.
Greenhalgh claimed he made his own pigments from organic materials of an appropriate age, digging up iron-rich clay. (AFP)
