Claim: lost da Vinci found in Scotland

When 59-year-old Fiona McLaren of Scotland fell on hard times recently, she took an old oil painting that had been gathering dust in her home for decades to be appraised.

The reaction from Harry Robertson, the director of Sotheby’s in Scotland, indicated it might have some value: “I showed it to him and he was staggered, speechless save for a sigh of exclamation,” McLaren said.

That would be because the painting, shown above, may well be a previously unknown work by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci and worth more $150 million.

The 23-inch-by-28-inch painting depicts a woman holding a young child and had been collecting dust in Fiona McLaren’s home for decades, according to The Daily Mail.

The painting may be of Mary Magdalene. It is now being analyzed by experts at the Cambridge University and the Hamilton Kerr Institute, the publication added.

The painting came into the possession of the McLaren family through her late father George, a doctor who had received it as a gift from a patient in the 1960s, according to the Global Post.

McLaren inherited the work of art when her father died in 1979, according to The Daily Mail.

Even if it’s not a da Vinci original, the painting is believed to be at least from the da Vinci School, possibly created by a pupil in the 16th century, according to Yahoo! News.

Interestingly, a papal bull was found attached to the back of the painting and is believed to have originated from the era of Pope Paul V, head of the Catholic Church from 1605 until 1621.

McLaren said the word “Magdalene,” is visible on the faded paper.

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