Seek and you shall find...

Researcher Maurizio Seracini (front left) views video from behind 
a Giorgio Vasari mural in Florence. 
photo from NationalGeographic.com

Here in the 21st century—when high tech science and art historians and researchers work together for a single cause—anything can happen. So how about finding a lost Leonardo da Vinci mural behind a false wall? It's almost like something you'd expect to read in a Dan Brown novel, but experts are close to finding out. It's a long story, but my very short version is that art researcher Maurizio Seracini was studying a painting at the Palazzo Vecchio, which is Florence's city hall. The painting, by Giorgio Vasari, is called The Battle of Marciano, and Seracini noticed small writing on a flag in the paining that read cerca trova, which translates to Seek and you shall find. Goosebumps, right? Seracini is very sure that Leonardo's lost painting called The Battle of Anghiari is behind that mural somewhere and is determined to find out for sure. I only hope the top painting won't be ruined in the process of uncovering the Leonardo painting, if it's really there. 

Wanna know more? If you were lucky enough to catch the documentary about this on the Nat Geo channel (like me) then you were one step ahead of this exciting news. You can read the entire story and see video and more photos here on the Nat Geo website.

POSTSCRIPT: Click here, here and here for an update of lost Leonardo mystery.