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New results with regard to the Flora bust controversy: radiocarbon dating suggests nineteenth century origin.

ABSTRACT: Many works of art have been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the great artist-scientist-engineer of the Italian Renaissance; however, art historians have struggled to find definitive proof to connect Leonardo to these art pieces. The Flora wax bust in the Bode Museum, Berlin, was attributed to Leonardo because her face resembles several Leonardo portraits, but this attribution has the subject of intense debate since the bust's acquisition in 1909. Using new chemical analyses and absolute ¹⁴C dating, we are able to resolve the question of authenticity. We show that the Flora wax bust is made primarily of spermaceti which was extracted from sperm whales. Therefore, ¹⁴C dating must consider the Marine Reservoir Effect. We have generated a new calibration method and dated the bust to the 19th c. This proves that the bust was not produced during the Renaissance, and thus cannot be attributed to da Vinci, and illustrates that ¹⁴C dating can be applied to unusual materials.

SUBMITTER: Reiche I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8050239 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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New results with regard to the Flora bust controversy: radiocarbon dating suggests nineteenth century origin.

Reiche Ina I Beck Lucile L Caffy Ingrid I

Scientific reports 20210415 1

Many works of art have been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the great artist-scientist-engineer of the Italian Renaissance; however, art historians have struggled to find definitive proof to connect Leonardo to these art pieces. The Flora wax bust in the Bode Museum, Berlin, was attributed to Leonardo because her face resembles several Leonardo portraits, but this attribution has the subject of intense debate since the bust's acquisition in 1909. Using new chemical analyses and abso ...[more]

PMID: 33859211

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Project description:Collagen is the dominant organic component of bone and is intimately locked within the hydroxyapatite structure of this ubiquitous biomaterial that dominates archaeological and palaeontological assemblages. Radiocarbon analysis of extracted collagen is one of the most common approaches to dating bone from late Pleistocene or Holocene deposits, but dating is relatively expensive compared to other biochemical techniques. Numerous analytical methods have previously been investigated for the purpose of screening out samples that are unlikely to yield reliable dates including histological analysis, UV-stimulated fluorescence and, most commonly, the measurement of percentage nitrogen (%N) and ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N). Here we propose the use of collagen fingerprinting (also known as Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, or ZooMS, when applied to species identification) as an alternative screening method for radiocarbon dating, due to its ability to provide information on collagen presence and quality, alongside species identification. The method was tested on a series of sub-fossil bone specimens from cave systems on Cayman Brac (Cayman Islands), chosen due to the observable range in diagenetic alteration, and in particular, the extent of mineralisation. Six (14)C dates, of 18 initial attempts, were obtained from remains of extinct hutia, Capromys sp. (Rodentia; Capromyidae), recovered from five distinct caves on Cayman Brac, and ranging from 393 ± 25 to 1588 ± 26 radiocarbon years before present (yr BP). All of the bone samples that yielded radiocarbon dates generated excellent collagen fingerprints, and conversely those that gave poor fingerprints also failed dating. Additionally, two successfully fingerprinted bone samples were screened out from a set of 81. Both subsequently generated (14)C dates, demonstrating successful utilisation of ZooMS as an alternative screening mechanism to identify bone samples that are suitable for 1(4)C analysis.

Dataset Information

New results with regard to the Flora bust controversy: radiocarbon dating suggests nineteenth century origin.

Publications

New results with regard to the Flora bust controversy: radiocarbon dating suggests nineteenth century origin.

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