Word: artful
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...case of the da Vinci painting, the authentication was based on physical evidence. Using a high-resolution multispectral camera capable of analyzing the painting on a precise level without touching it, a Canadian forensic-art expert named Peter Paul Biro was able to identify a faint fingerprint left on the canvas. The print was then matched to one on a known da Vinci painting hanging in Vatican City. Carbon dating of the newer canvas matched the painting to da Vinci's period, and an analysis of the style concluded the painter was left-handed, another purported da Vinci trait. Taken...
Absent compelling forensic evidence like a fingerprint, the authentication process becomes a bit murkier. In the past, pieces of art have been certified through a combination of factors, including brushstroke patterns, analysis of the artist's signature, dating of the pigments or canvas used or even the instinctive (but subjective) opinion of academics who have extensively studied an artist's portfolio. A painting's provenance, or its history of ownership, is also important. Being able to trace a portrait back from owner to owner over the course of centuries is no small feat, and it often lends significant weight...
...recent high-profile case that has highlighted the difficulties in authenticating a piece of art is a disputed Jackson Pollock painting, purchased for $5 in 1992 by ex-trucker Teri Horton in a California thrift store. Biro was also involved in that investigation. He matched a partial fingerprint on the canvas to one on a paint can used by Pollock and paint on the canvas to samples from Pollock's studio. Still, despite the forensic evidence, the art community has been reluctant to certify the work. There is no record of the painting's former ownership, and examinations by experts...
Cases like these underline the fact that art authentication is a high-stakes game. Da Vinci's portrait has been renamed La Bella Principessa, and its estimated value has been adjusted to about $160 million - a price tag that could result in an unimaginable profit for Peter Silverman, the painting's owner, who acquired it for about...
Read TIME's art blog, Looking Around...