In the Hall of the 500 of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence Italy, there lies a wall with a mural by celebrated artist Giorgio Vasari. Back in 1503 the hall looked very different. That year, Leondardo Da Vinci painted "The Battle of Marciano" in the very same area where Vasari’s mural now sits. The Italian government assumed the mural had been lost in a restoration venture 50 years later, but now art researchers do not think this is the case.
In fact, the working theory is that Vasari actually created a brick wall to save Da Vinci’s work, which was important due to the name of the artist as well as its subject matter in its day. If this working theory is correct, than all or parts of Da Vinci’s original work may still be available to restore. According to CNN, the city of Florence greenlighted a crew from National Geographic and a team from the University of California San Diego to figure out what, if any, of the famed mural is there. After drilling a few holes through Vasari's piece of art, the crew encountered chemicals similar to those in Da Vinci's famous work The Mona Lisa, which seems like a promising start.
Priceless works of art appear out of thin air more often than you would think, but priceless works by Da Vinci are still few and far between. If the research team is successful in finding all or part of “The Battle of Marciano” mural, Florence will have another work of art to support tourism revenue. Pop Blend will keep you posted. Until then, to learn more about the project, check out Finding The Lost Da Vinci on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday the 18th.
