Bode Museum Finally Describes their 'Leonardo' as 'Manner of'
April 20 2021
Picture: Bode Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Bode Museum in Berlin have finally come round to re-cataloguing a dubious sculpture in their collection as 'In the manner of Leonardo Da Vinci'.
The above sculpture of Flora was purchased as a Leonardo in full in 1909 by the then director of Prussian art collections, Wilhelm von Bode. However, recent analysis by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has concluded that the piece must be a nineteenth century imitation. Scientific analysis has shown that the majority of the sculpture is made from spermaceti wax, a type of wax harvested for candles during the nineteenth century. Strong comparisons have been made with several works by the sculptor Richard Cockle Lucas (1800-1883), who has been suggested as the likely creator of the piece.
Update - A reader has kindly alerted me to the fact the sculpture is included within a new exhibition on the museum's history entitled Klartext (Plain Talk). A free virtual tour of the exhibition, plus audio guides, can be accessed here.
