The Da Vinci detective, a two-hour television documentary about Kalpa's project investigating two key Leonardo paintings, led by Dr. Maurizio Seracini.
Transmitted on Channel 4, U.K., at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 20th, 2006
Production company: Darlow Smithson Productions.
During the course of 2005/6, the Kalpa Group allowed Darlow Smithson Productions, a leading U.K. production company, exclusive access to the research work of Dr. Maurizio Seracini, head of Editech, a Florence company, as he investigated two key works by Leonardo da Vinci, the Adoration of the Magi and the Battle of Anghiari. This work has been supported by the Kalpa Group over the last six years, as part of a wider programme of encouraging and facilitating pioneering art historical research projects which might otherwise go unfunded.
Dr. Seracini's discoveries have cast new light on the circumstances surrounding the painting of the Adoration of the Magi, now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and suggest strongly that although the drawing of the picture was by Leonardo, the paint layer, of inferior workmanship, was added many years later. In addition, with a range of scientific techniques using radiation from x-rays and ultraviolet to infrared, Dr. Seracini has revealed underdrawings that were previously concealed by layers of grime and varnish, and which show new aspects of the Adoration and Leonardo's intentions for the design. [Adoration of the Magi]
In addition, the documentary told the story so far of Kalpa's attempt to find evidence for the continued existence of the Battle of Anghiari, the mural painted by Leonardo on one wall of the hall of Five Hundred in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. This fine painting, admired by many in the first half of the 16th century, disappeared after Vasari built a wall in front of it as part of his redesign of the Hall of Five Hundred. Had it already decayed, as a result of poor technical workmanship? Did Vasari scrape it off or cover it up? No one knows the truth, and over the last few years, Seracini's researches have revealed a void behind Vasari's wall which may indicate that the painting was protected and could still exist, even as traces of the original. [Battle of Anghiari]
The climax of the documentary is the unveiling of the detailed multi-layer image of the Adoration of the Magi, showing with crystal clarity the original underdrawings, at a resolution of a fraction of a millimetre. Seeing this for the first time, Professor Pedretti says:
I feel very humble. It's really a privilege to get to see what Leonardo did as if I was looking over his shoulders whilst he was doing it. It's no question that it is the real Leonardo. If there is one thing that I'm comfortable with it is a Leonardo drawing. It's like reading a manuscript page. This is a Leonardo.
Professor Martin Kemp, of the University of Oxford, says:
Maurizio's new images are just sensationally good. We had some infra red images before, but they were indistinct. What Maurizio's images do is they let us see the drawing, and really get a sense of how Leonardo was drawing on the panel. When we really look into it we can see it is a crucible of invention. What Maurizio Seracini is a master of is producing radically new insights. It was the first time we can go back and see what the painter is doing earlier in the work.
In addition to Carlo Pedretti and Martin Kemp, a number of other experts appear inThe Da Vinci detective, speaking of their high opinion of the Kalpa researches and their hopes for future discoveries. They included:
• Professor James Beck, Columbia University, New York
• Dr. Antonio Natali, director, the Uffizi Gallery. Florence
• Charles Nicholls, Leonardo biographer
• Dr. Robert Hatfield, Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Florence
• Denise Budd, Columbia University, New York
 See an extract from 'The Da Vinci Detective' (a high speed internet ~ 256Kbps preferred)
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