'One of da Vinci's first ever sketches' found hidden inside a book

Tests are being carried out to discover whether a sketch found about 70 years ago tucked inside a book is one of Leonardo da Vinci's first ever drawings. It is believed that the intricate red-chalk sketch of a man with a wispy beard was produced around 1473.

At first it was believed the drawing may be the work of an apprentice of the Renaissance artist but since da Vinci was an apprentice himself until the late 1470s, that makes that theory highly unlikely. Art historian Peter Hohenstaff says he is 'highly convinced' that the find is 'one of the first drawings' by the great Italian painter, born 1452.

The composition of the paper used for the sketch and the chemical used to whiten the paper are both similar to those used by the artist in other known drawings.

Even more pointedly, a blank space in the Codex Atlanticus, a twelve-volume, bound set of drawings and writings by the artist, matches almost perfectly with the five-and-a-half-inch by three-and-a-half-inch piece of paper.


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