Emily Chan
The art world has long been a breeding ground for forgeries and fraud. Some fakes have been crafted so meticulously that they deceive even the best art experts.
But what happens when these supposed masterpieces are finally revealed as mere copies? Many stories of forged artworks that were later exposed have surfaced in the past few decades. Here is one of the most recent.
An art dealer was arrested by officials in France and Spain for trying to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci painting.
According to Spanish police, the dealer was a man in his 40s, and he had claimed the imitation piece was worth almost $1.5 million.
After two years of investigative work, they were finally able to make the arrest. In 2022, the man attempted to bring the painting from Spain to Italy.
But at the Modane border, about 75 miles from Milan, French customs officials confiscated it from his vehicle. Ultimately, it was insufficient paperwork that led to the end of this man’s scheme.
For any work of art that is older than 100 years, Spanish law requires an export license to be issued. The man had a license that claimed the painting was worth $1.4 million.
It was a portrait of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, an Italian military commander. Apparently, Leonardo had painted it while working for Duke Ludovico Sforza in Milan between 1482 and 1499.
However, the license had been expired for several months, which meant the man had been smuggling the painting across borders.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
