A five hundred year old mystery shrouding Leonardo Da Vinci’s lost mural the Battle of Anghiari, may have been solved. No, this is not another Dan Brown novel, but it is just as titillating. So much so, the lead researcher Maurizio Seracini was featured in The Da Vinci Code. Seracini has been working for 36 years to recover Da Vinci’s missing masterpiece. And finally he has gotten one step closer by the discovery made today at the Salone de' Cinquecento of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. But, not without escaping controversy that lead to a police investigation and a protests of over 300 art historians.   

It all began with a fresco commissioned to none other than Leonardo Da Vinci himself, by the Republic of Florence in 1503. It was a representation of bloody battle between the warring Milanese and Florentine soldiers in Anghiari. The mural was never finished because of technical problems with the coloration. His contemporaries praised it and Pieter Paul Rubens drew a copy of it.

Pieter Paul Rubens Copy of the Battle of Anghiari

However, since it was unfinished in 1563, Giorgio Vasari was commissioned to paint over it. He painted the famous, Battle of Marciano inside Palazzo Vecchio, but some researcher believe he painted it on a new wall he built over Da Vinci’s previous wall. There is some evidence leading art historians and analysts to believe so, together with the great respect that Vasari had for Leonardo which leads to believe that he would not have dared destroying the work of the artist.

With the advanced technology and thanks to a project sponsored by the National Geographic, the results are in. They have found pigments that match those used in the Mona Lisa. Considering paint mixtures were very customized at the time, it could be Da Vinci’s paint on the wall behind Vasari’s painting. It also appears there are other pigments he used as well. From a conceptual perspective, it is quite thought provoking that there is an air gap between Vasari’s painting and another wall. That is certainly a strange architectural element. For some art historians, the banner hanging in the corner of Vasari’s painting sparks interest,  Cerca Trova ("He Who Seeks, Finds”). Which is interesting, but the scientific evidence is a bit more compelling.

View of the Salone de' Cinquecento at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

So what is all the controversy about? In order to get behind the Vasari painting, they had to drill some holes in it. Now, I know what you’re thinking that Vasari is rolling in his grave. But the researchers testimony states they are 4mm holes, placed in areas where there was no original pigment or brushstroke left. Also the holes are needed in order to put in laser optic cables to see and test what is behind it. It is very sophisticated technology developed by nuclear physicist, Robert Smither. The art historians that gave protest suggested that the Vasari painting should not be harmed. Further, what are they going to do if there is a Da Vinci painting behind it? Knock it down? Also, some believe it is just a marketing ploy and art itself should be taken more seriously. However, the Mayor of Florence thinks otherwise. His reply was simply that he thinks people should wait to see the discoveries of the project before they start complaining. That said, the results have not been completely conclusive but certainly lead one to believe that Da Vinci’s lost fresco could indeed be behind Vasari’s.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Sketches for the Battle of Anghiari's Fresco