"And There Was Light" @ Gothenburg, West Sweden

Lucas Cranach, "Salome" (1500-tal). Goteborgs konstmuseum

GOTHENBURG (PRNewswire).- A recently-discovered Leonardo da Vinci painting (sold in 2007 for $19,000, and now valued at 100 million pounds Sterling) is being exhibited for the first time at a ground-breaking exhibition in Gothenburg, Sweden. The exhibition will feature some 50 original masterpieces by Michelangelo, Raphael, da Vinci and other renaissance artists. Most of the pieces are privately owned and have rarely or never been shown in public.

The exhibition ;And There Was Light, opened its doors in Gothenburg, West Sweden, on 20 March. The recently-discovered painting, 'La Bella Principessa' (right), which portrays a young woman in profile, was sold in 2007 to Canadian-born art collector Peter Silverman for $19,000. Silverman had the piece tested and examined by experts after suspecting it was the work of a more prestigious painter. Techniques such as comparing finger prints confirmed Silverman's suspicions, though nothing could have prepared him for the monumental discovery that was made. The painting is now valued at 100 million pounds.

One of the experts to make the discovery was Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Leonardo da Vinci museum in Tuscany and the artistic director of And There Was Light. In Gothenburg, he will work alongside Francesco Buranelli, the scientific director of the exhibition.

Throughout their lifetimes, the three masters were fierce rivals as they struggled to compete for both commissions and fame. 500 years later, this exhibition will "describe the relationship and rivalry between these three Italian Renaissance geniuses, how their lives were interwoven during the late 15th and early 16th centuries and how they and their apprentices have influenced art," says Mr. Vezzosi.

The exhibition: And There Was Light is planned to be touring the world for 8 years, starting in Gothenburg, Sweden on March 20 until August 15. The exhibition will be held in Eriksbergshallen, exhibition hall in a former shipyard area, on the northern banks of Gota River in central Gothenburg. 

Ernst Josephson, "Venus fron Urbino" (1800-tal). Goteborgs konstmuseum