NEW YORK (AP) — A painting once thought to be by Leonardo da Vinci has fetched $1.5 million at a New York City auction — triple its high estimate.
“Portrait of a Woman, Called La Belle Ferronniere” (lah bell Feh-roh-NYEHR’) was purchased by an American collector on Thursday. Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate was $500,000.
The painting is believed to be of a Renaissance mistress of the Duke of Milan. It was the subject of almost a century of scholarly discussion and a legal drama.
The artwork was a wedding gift in 1919 to an American car salesman and his wife. They sold it to the Kansas City Art Institute as a Leonardo. But an art dealer pronounced it a fake; they sued him and won.
He might have been right. Most experts now believe the artist was a Leonardo follower.
