When a $19,000 investment becomes a $160 million masterpiece.
A smudged fingerprint has convinced art experts that a painting thought to have dated back to the early 19th century is the work of revered Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Little is known of the painting before it appeared in an illustrated Christie’s catalogue in the late 1990s labeled as “German, 19th Century” under the name of “Young Girl in Profile in Renaissance Dress.” It sold for $19,000 at the auction to respected New York art dealer Kate Ganz who kept it for 12 years before selling it on for a similar price in 2007. The work is now locked in a Swiss bank vault with an estimated value of more than $160 million. – From CNN