Possible da Vinci portrait found in Swiss bank vault

A portrait of a woman believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci has been discovered in the vault of a Swiss bank, according to a report in the Italian press. But doubt exists over the piece’s authenticity and additional research still needs to be completed.

The piece – a painting of a Renaissance noblewoman named Isabella d’Este – was discovered amid a collection of hundreds of items belonging to an Italian family, according to a report in Italy’s Corriere della Sera.

The portrait is believed to be a finished version of a sketch by the artist that is now at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Carlo Pedretti, a professor emeritus of art history at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the newspaper that “there are no doubts that the portrait is the work of Leonardo.”

He said that more analysis needs to be completed to determine to what extent the artist’s pupils contributed to the work.