A bronze cast of Horse and Rider, the only known wax sculpture attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, is up for sale. Following decades of research and some questions of authenticity, the piece is valued at $100 million.
“The Detail Is Extraordinary”
Art Encounter, a gallery and art dealer based in Las Vegas, will handle the sale of Horse and Rider. Following decades of research and analysis, the bronze cast of the Leonardo sculpture was created by the American Fine Arts Foundry in 2012. They used a latex mold of the original, which the Italian Renaissance artist made from beeswax in the early 1500s. “The detail is extraordinary,” said Brett Maly, president of Art Encounter, in a recent statement. Scott Ferguson, executive director at Art Encounter, elaborated, “Horse and Rider’s 500-year journey from Italy to Switzerland to England to America is fascinating. It’s a miracle Leonardo’s beeswax original survived long enough to be realized in bronze. We are extremely honored to represent such a historic and important work.”
The Leonardo Sculpture’s Mysterious Provenance
The original Leonardo wax sculpture is likely a scale model for a life-size bronze sculpture that was never completed. According to research, Horse and Rider depicts Leonardo’s friend and patron, Charles d’Amboise, the French governor of Milan. After Leonardo died in 1519, the artist’s protégé Francesco Melzi presumably inherited the wax sculpture, along with several drawings, notebooks, and other unfinished works. The Leonardo sculpture’s exact whereabouts over the centuries are uncertain. It was recorded as part of the Sangiorgi Collection in Rome in the late 19th century. In the 1920s, the sculpture’s Italian owner removed it from Italy and stored it in a bank vault in Switzerland.
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterIn any case, the Leonardo sculpture was probably passed down and sold countless times before it was publicly authenticated by Leonardo scholar Carlo Pedretti in 1985. After the Leonardo sculpture’s authentication, its owners commissioned the latex mold to preserve the sculpture indefinitely. “Beeswax wasn’t meant to last for 500 years, but they’re doing what they can to preserve it,” Maly explained. “The left front leg, the ears of the horse, the arms of the rider are missing because over the years it has decomposed.”
Is the Leonardo Sculpture Really Authentic?
While Pedretti’s attribution carries significant weight, not all scholars agree that Horse and Rider is an authentic Leonardo sculpture. However, one of the key details transferred from the original wax to the bronze cast is a set of fingerprints believed to be from the artist himself. Leonardo’s initials also appear on both the wax sculpture and the corresponding bronze cast. Additionally, the sculpture underwent scientific analysis by experts at Sotheby’s and Oxford University, which dated it to Leonardo’s lifetime. According to Art Encounter, Horse and Rider is currently being stored in a vault in Las Vegas. The gallery has issued an invitation to any interested or skeptical scholars to book an appointment to see it for themselves.
