A FAMOUS PICTURE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XVIII, Issue XVIII, 24 October 1912, Page 3

A FAMOUS PICTURE.

A curious dispute is proceeding in London and Paris regarding the picture that is in the possession of Mr Harold iiathbone, who claims that it is the missing "La Gioconda/ 5 from the Paris Louvre. Mr Rathbone bought the picture aba London sale for 105 guineas a few months ago, and stated almost at once that it was the Louvre treasure, for which the police of Europe had been searching. He carried it to Paris, and the French authorities assured him that he was mistaken, his picture being merely an old. copy of the original. But Mr Rathbone was not discouraged, and he still professes to be absolutely sure that his judgment is not in error. He will sell ihe picture for £25,000 or £30,----000 should a buyer appear, and if it is left on his hands he will bequeath" it to one of the national collections. In the meantime, he is quite willing to adorn his own walls with the ancient masterpiece. _ Mr Rathbone says that he is an authority on the works of Leonardo da j Vinci, and would be able to detect the signs that would distinguish a copy from an original. His picture is painted on a wooden panel, just as the painting 6tolen from the Louvre was, and experts hare told him that the panel is 500 years old. The panel is split in precisely the way recorded in the pub'ished descriptions of "La Gioconda," and the name "Leonardo" appears on the back. There are two defects under the right eye, moreover, that coincide precisely with markings that are shown in photographic reproductions made in ! the Louvre. Mr Rathbone does not ex- I plain how a picture that is known by the merest layman to be worth a vast fortune came to be cold by auction in London for 105 guineas, bxit he has a theory that the theft from the Louvre took place some months earlier than has been supposed, a copy being substituted for the original. Then the copy was removed for some reason that is not readily apparent. The suggestion is ingenious, but probably Mr Rathbone will be allowed to keep his picture.