The discovery of a fingerprint by Paul Biro, Art Access & Research’s Director of Forensic Studies has lead to the first attribution of a work of art to Leonardo da Vinci in over a century. The print, believed to be from the index or middle finger was found on the drawing (a portrait on vellum called La Bella Principessa) and matched to a fingerprint from Leonardo’s St Jerome in the Vatican. The work of Paul Biro is highlighted in an article in today’s London Times.

“Mr Biro has pioneered the use of fingerprint technology to help to resolve art authentication disputes… The fingerprint corresponds to the tip of the index or middle finger, and is “highly comparable” to one on Leonardo’s St Jerome in the Vatican. Importantly, St Jerome is an early work from a time when Leonardo was not known to have employed assistants, making it likely that it is his fingerprint.”

This find, first reported in the Antiques Trade Gazette has now been written about on the BBC News site, in the Guardian, the Telegraph, The Australian and many others.