Italians try to crack Leonardo da Vinci DNA code with lock of hair, which will be displayed for 500th anniversary of artist’s death
- Relic ‘long hidden’ in private US collection could help answer questions about da Vinci’s remains and living descendants
Two Italian experts are set to perform a DNA test on a lock of hair that they say might have belonged to Leonardo da Vinci.
The hair strand was found in a private collection in the US and will go on display for the first time at the Ideale Leonardo da Vinci museum in Vinci (the Tuscan town where the artist was born), from May 2, the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death.
“We found, across the Atlantic, a lock of hair historically tagged ‘Les Cheveux de Leonardo da Vinci’ and this extraordinary relic will allow us to proceed in the quest to carry out research on Da Vinci’s DNA,” said Alessandro Vezzosi, the director of the museum and Agnese Sabato, president of the Leonardo da Vinci Heritage Foundation in a statement.
The lock will also be presented at a press conference at Leonardiana library in Vinci on Thursday as year-long celebrations get under way in Italy, France and elsewhere to commemorate the artist.
“This historical relic – a lock of hair – has long remained hidden in an American collection,” said Vezzosi. “It will now be exposed for the first time, along with documents attesting its ancient French provenance.”