France: Sale of rare Leonardo da Vinci sketch sparks legal battle

A small pen-and-ink drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci has triggered a legal battle between the owner of the drawing and France’s culture ministry. Reportedly, a Paris court will now decide if the drawing of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian may leave France for purchase by a foreign buyer. While the piece had remained buried for several decades, it was among the drawings and engravings that the owner who is in the 80s received as a gift from his father for passing his medical school exams in 1959.

The artwork was forgotten in a box for many years by Jean B who asked not to be fully named until the head of Tajan's Old Masters department, Thaddee Prate, quickly identified the piece. Prate valued it at between $17,000-$25,000. However, another expert, Patrick de Bayser in 2016 had concluded that in the two-sided painting, the other side inscribed with scientific studies of candlelight was by Leonardo da Vinci. The same opinion was supported by Carmen Bambach of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

"The attribution of St. Sebastian drawing to Leonardo is absolutely solid," she told The New York Times while also noting that it was complementary to other drawings of Saint Sebastian by the artist. In a jiffy, the value of the sketch rocketed to reach between $6.75 million to $10 million. This further prompted the French government to designate the drawing as a “national treasure” and gave itself 30 months to acquire it on behalf of the Louvre museum in Paris that is also the home of the Mona Lisa.

While the French government made the offer of paying 10 million euros for the drawing, Jean B reportedly refused following the new valuation estimating the drawing at 15 million euros. Subsequently, Jean B promptly applied for an export permit to be able to sell the drawing to any other foreign buyer but the French culture ministry refused citing the possibility of the piece being stolen. Now, the owner of the piece since 1959 will ask a Paris court to order the French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot and a senior official in charge of art collections to allow the drawing to leave France.

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