The Meaning of Authorship
What does it mean for a painting to be "by Leonardo"? In the Renaissance, workshops were collaborative. Masters designed compositions, painted key sections (typically faces and hands), and supervised assistants who completed backgrounds, drapery, and secondary figures. The paintings on this page represent the full spectrum of attribution debate — from the most expensive painting ever sold to works dismissed by some scholars as entirely by workshop hands.
Salvator Mundi
c. 1499–1510 · 64.5 × 44.7 cm · Oil (walnut oil) on walnut · Location: Saudi Arabia (awaiting museum)
From $1,175 to $450 Million
The most dramatic rediscovery in art history:
Purchased at a New Orleans estate sale as "After Leonardo da Vinci: Christ Salvator Mundi" — described as "a wreck, dark and gloomy" with a face "grotesquely repainted." Conservator Dianne Dwyer Modestini spent six years restoring it. Sold at Christie's on November 15, 2017 to Prince Badr bin Abdullah (reportedly for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) — the most expensive painting ever sold.
The Great Attribution Divide
For Leonardo: Luke Syson, Martin Kemp, the Louvre C2RMF team. They cite the pentimento in the blessing hand's thumb (a copyist would reproduce exactly), sfumato consistent with late works, and Windsor drapery studies accepted as Leonardo's.
Against: Carmen Bambach (Met curator) attributes most to Boltraffio. Frank Zöllner (Leipzig): "The old parts which are original — these are by pupils — and the new parts which look like Leonardo, but they are by the restorer. In some part, it's a masterpiece by Dianne Modestini." Matthew Landrus (Oxford) attributes it to Bernardino Luini. Even Vincent Delieuvin (Louvre curator, initially supportive) noted "details of surprisingly poor quality" by 2021.
Madonna Litta
c. 1490 · 42 × 33 cm · Tempera (transferred to canvas 1865) · Hermitage, Saint Petersburg
Russia vs. the West
The Hermitage maintains the Madonna Litta is fully autograph Leonardo, a position defended by curator Tatiana Kustodieva. Martin Kemp stated bluntly in 2017 that the painting is "by Boltraffio," claiming even the National Gallery's curators agreed privately. Carmen Bambach attributes it to Boltraffio; David Alan Brown proposes Marco d'Oggiono.
Against Leonardo: Harsh, crisp outlines (though tempera may partly explain this). The Christ Child bears little resemblance to children in other Leonardo paintings. Boltraffio's preparatory drawings closely match the Child.
For Leonardo: A universally accepted preparatory metalpoint drawing in the Louvre. Leonardo's 1478–1482 references to two Madonnas. The beautiful execution of the Virgin's face.
Dominant consensus: Leonardo designed the composition, created the preparatory drawing, likely painted the Virgin's face, and had Boltraffio execute the remainder.
The Bacchus (after Leonardo)
177 × 115 cm · Oil on walnut (transferred to canvas) · Louvre, Paris
Originally depicted Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness. Between 1683 and 1693, it was overpainted and transformed into Bacchus: cross-staff converted to thyrsus, vine wreath added, fur given leopard spots. This transformation reflected classical taste at the French court.
The 2017–2019 restoration substantiated partial Leonardo involvement in design and initial phases but confirmed workshop execution — most commonly attributed to Francesco Melzi.
The Attribution Spectrum
Across Leonardo's entire catalog, attribution ranges from absolute certainty (Mona Lisa, Last Supper, Saint John) to fierce debate (Salvator Mundi) to consensus workshop production (Bacchus, Madonna Litta). What remains remarkable is that even the most disputed works — paintings where scholars argue Leonardo barely touched the surface — are still worth millions, because the power of his design and concept is recognizable even through other hands.