"La Bella Principessa" by Martin Kemp and Pascal Cotte
Hodder & Stoughton, 2010
Review by Travis Simpkins
In 1998, a little-known and misattributed drawing on vellum of a woman in profile came up for auction. Labeled as "German School, Early 19th Century", the work sold for $21,850. Several years later, when the drawing was purchased by Peter Silverman, Nicholas Turner recognized it as being much older… of the Renaissance period, and having been made by the hand of a master… perhaps even by Leonardo da Vinci himself. Of course much research, testing and investigation needed to be conducted before firmly proving such a lofty attribution. That's where da Vinci scholar Martin Kemp and digital pioneer Pascal Cotte enter the picture. Leonardo da Vinci "La Bella Principessa": The Profile Portrait of a Milanese Woman is a concise 190 pages long, and details the research and complex testing that the work was subjected to at the hands of Kemp and Cotte, in order to indisputably prove that the drawing is the skilled handiwork of the great master. The history of the work and where it fits in Leonardo's oeuvre, and the background and likely identity of the sitter are expertly put forth by Martin Kemp. Using the fashion and hairstyle to pinpoint the work as having been made in the 1490's while Leonardo was a guest of the Sforza family court, the subject is probably young Bianca Sforza. Three holes along the left edge of the paper indicate that it was once part of a bound manuscript commemorating Bianca's engagement. The medium of chalk mixed with pen and ink on vellum is unique, but makes sense as Leonardo's writings of the period include an entry expressing his interest in learning such a technique from visiting French artist Jean Perreal. The second half of the book, written by Pascal Cotte of Lumiere Technology, deals with the technical analysis and findings after the drawing was photographed by Cotte's multi-spectral high definition camera. UV, infrared, x-ray, fingerprint analysis and carbon dating were administered, proving that the work was made in the proper time period and surely made by a most-talented left-handed draftsman. Upon the book's conclusion, there is little doubt left that Leonardo da Vinci indeed created the profile portrait of "La Bella Principessa." After the book was published, the manuscript from which the drawing's vellum page was cut was located in Poland. In a program produced for PBS, Mystery of a Masterpiece, Martin Kemp and Pascal Cotte gave an overview of past research and filmed footage of new discoveries regarding this lovely drawing… that now deservedly has it's own important place in Leonardo da Vinci's divine canon of work.
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci and Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci and Pascal Cotte: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci: Martin Kemp |
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| Pascal Cotte and Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci in book: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci hairstyle: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci in book: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci in frame: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci in book: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci damage: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci overlay: Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci reproduction: Martin Kemp |
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| Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci: Martin Kemp |
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| Renaissance Woman: Martin Kemp |
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| Martin Kemp |
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| : Martin Kemp |
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| Pascal Cotte and Martin Kemp |
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| La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci as it originally looked: Martin Kemp |
"Mystery of a Masterpiece"
