Paging Dan Brown: The Hunt for a Lost Da Vinci Mural in Florence
Researchers think they may have found a lost mural by Leonardo da Vinci hiding behind another fresco on the wall of a famous Florentine building. According to The Associated Press, there's no big news yet -- the findings are still preliminary -- but the narrative of clues researchers are following, as detailed by the A.P., reads like a treatment for a new Dan Brown yarn. The researchers are drilling tiny holes into a fresco by Giorgio Vasari, created decades after Da Vinci left Florence. Take this detail from Italian engineer Maurizio Seracini, who is investigating the suspected fresco:
Seracini was inspired by the word's "Cerca, trova," ("seek and you shall find") which were painted on a tiny flag in Vasari's painting depicting a different battle. Those who think Leonardo's work might be hidden behind the later wall painting contend it is unlikely that Vasari, famed for his biographies of Renaissance artists, would have destroyed any masterpiece by Leonardo.
Hidden clues from a Renaissance art historian masking Da Vinci's work? At this rate, maybe Tom Hanks will have another Da Vinci Code sequel to star in when he's done co-starring in "Saving Obama's Presidency" and saving Jonah Hill's monologue on Saturday Night Live. Until Brown catches wind of this and fictionalizes the account, you'll have to read about it from the A.P.
