Leonardo

TORONTO - A new portrait by Leonardo da Vinci may have been discovered thanks to a centuries-old fingerprint and palm print. Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art specialist, said that a fingerprint on what was presumed to be a 19th-century German drawing of a young woman has convinced art specialists that it is actually a Leonardo. Canadian-born art collector Peter Silverman bought “Profile of the Bella Principessa’’ at the Ganz gallery in New York on behalf of an anonymous Swiss collector in 2007 for about $19,000.

It has been tried with opera, it has been tried with theater - in both cases with surprising success. Now a blockbuster art exhibition is coming to a cinema near you, in an unprecedented experiment that may have huge implications for the global art audience. Tomorrow, "Leonardo Live," a film about the National Gallery of London's recent "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan" exhibition will open in movie theaters around Greater Boston, from Fenway to Patriot Place, and indeed around New England and the world.

PARIS — The enigmatic smile remains a mystery, but French scientists say they have cracked a few secrets of the “Mona Lisa.’’ French researchers studied seven Leonardo da Vinci paintings in the Louvre Museum, including the “Mona Lisa,’’ to analyze the master’s use of successive ultrathin layers of paint and glaze — a technique that gave his works their dreamy quality. Specialists from the Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France found that Leonardo painted up to 30 layers on his works to meet his standards of...

Paris Saint-Germain's bid to sign David Beckham from the Los Angeles Galaxy may be thwarted by family matters, the French club's sporting director Leonardo said Friday. Leonardo has made no secret of his admiration for the 36-year-old former England captain. He said at a news conference there are other factors that may influence whether Beckham joins when the transfer window opens next week. "He is in L.A., he has his family over there. We have talked a lot and we are still talking, but I'm not sure it will be done," Leonardo said while PSG introduced Carlo Ancelotti as its...

Paris Saint-Germain's bid to sign David Beckham from the Los Angeles Galaxy may be thwarted by family matters, the French club's sporting director Leonardo said Friday. Leonardo has made no secret of his admiration for the 36-year-old former England captain. He said at a news conference there are other factors that may influence whether Beckham joins when the transfer window opens next week. "He is in L.A., he has his family over there. We have talked a lot and we are still talking, but I'm not sure it will be done," Leonardo said while PSG introduced Carlo Ancelotti as its...

ROME - A science reporter on an Italian state television program said he has discovered a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci that could be a self-portrait of the artist as a young man. Piero Angela, a reporter for the "Ulisse" program on the RAI network, told a news conference last week that the drawing was hidden under writing in one of Leonardo's notebooks. A report on the discovery was broadcast yesterday on RAI. Angela said only a nose was visible under writing on a notebook page.

In "Empty Nest," Leonardo (Oscar Martínez) is a middle-aged Buenos Aires writer between works. He's not stuck per se, but he's not inspired, either. You might say the same about Daniel Burman's latest film, which follows Leonardo as he suffers a muted midlife crisis while doing nothing especially important. Leonardo's children are grown and living elsewhere. His wife, Martha (Cecilia Roth), has returned to teaching at the university. All he's really got going is his boredom, which draws him to the young woman who cleans his teeth and inspires his fantasies (that's her standing by...

BERLIN - A researcher has uncovered evidence that apparently confirms the identity of the woman behind the Mona Lisa's iconic smile, Germany's University of Heidelberg says. She is Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo, according to notes written in the margins of a book by a friend of Leonardo da Vinci as the artist worked on the masterpiece, the school said Monday. The discovery by a University of Heidelberg library manuscript expert appears to confirm what has long been suspected.

PARIS - On the eve of World War II, curators at the Louvre swathed the museum's most priceless painting - the "Mona Lisa" - in layers of waterproof paper, boxed it up, and spirited it to the French countryside for safekeeping. Leonardo da Vinci's smiling maiden moved another five times during the war before she was brought, safe and sound, back to the Louvre. A new Louvre exhibition, which opened last week, brings together photos of the museum before, during, and after the war, recording how thousands of pieces of art were taken to safehouses far from the fighting.

ROME - The legend of Leonardo da Vinci is shrouded in mystery: How did he die? Are the remains buried in a French chateau really those of the Renaissance master? Was the “Mona Lisa’’ a self-portrait in disguise? A group of Italian scientists believes the key to solving those puzzles lies with the possible remains - and they say they are seeking permission from French authorities to dig up the bones to conduct carbon and DNA testing. If the skull is intact, the scientists can go to the heart of a question that has fascinated scholars and the public...

The Leonardo DiCaprio sitting inside an empty soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot on a sunny November afternoon looks very little like J. Edgar Hoover — his title role in Clint Eastwood's new biopic of the longtime FBI director. On this day, DiCaprio looks relaxed and comfortable, lean and handsome. In "J. Edgar," he's anything but. DiCaprio portrays Hoover throughout his nearly 50-year reign over the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To play the elder Hoover, the actor endured grueling six-hour makeup sessions that left him unrecognizable even to his director.

Leonardo DiCaprio has played famous, real-life figures before, including Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," but no role has required him to span the length of time that he does in Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar" as the former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Well, unless you count the days upon weeks upon years that pass in "Inception," but that makes my brain hurt just beginning to think about it. DiCaprio portrays this enigmatic, power-hungry figure from his rise through the bureau to his final breaths decades later (with the help of some old-man makeup that isn't...

The second movie J. Edgar Hoover appeared in as a character was Woody Allen's "Bananas" (1971). The first was "The FBI Story" (1959). Double feature, anyone? Actually, that pairing isn't a bad indicator of what a crazy career the longtime FBI director has had in popular culture. The craziness continues, with Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar," which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover. It opens Friday. During Hoover's heyday, the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, no one needed to play him. There he was playing himself, a constant presence in newsreels and newspaper headlines.

Softbank Corp. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, whose company is the sole carrier of the iPhone in Japan, compares Steve Jobs to Leonardo da Vinci. "I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs," Son said in a statement. "Steve was truly a genius of our time, a man with a rare ability to fuse art and technology. In centuries from now, he will be remembered alongside Leonardo da Vinci. His achievements will continue to shine forever. " Jobs died in the U.S. on Wednesday.

PARIS — The enigmatic smile remains a mystery, but French scientists say they have cracked a few secrets of the “Mona Lisa.’’ French researchers studied seven Leonardo da Vinci paintings in the Louvre Museum, including the “Mona Lisa,’’ to analyze the master’s use of successive ultrathin layers of paint and glaze — a technique that gave his works their dreamy quality. Specialists from the Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France found that Leonardo painted up to 30 layers on his works to meet his...

ROME - The legend of Leonardo da Vinci is shrouded in mystery: How did he die? Are the remains buried in a French chateau really those of the Renaissance master? Was the “Mona Lisa’’ a self-portrait in disguise? A group of Italian scientists believes the key to solving those puzzles lies with the possible remains - and they say they are seeking permission from French authorities to dig up the bones to conduct carbon and DNA testing. If the skull is intact, the scientists can go to the heart of a question that has fascinated scholars and the public for centuries: the...

It has been tried with opera, it has been tried with theater - in both cases with surprising success. Now a blockbuster art exhibition is coming to a cinema near you, in an unprecedented experiment that may have huge implications for the global art audience. Tomorrow, "Leonardo Live," a film about the National Gallery of London's recent "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan" exhibition will open in movie theaters around Greater Boston, from Fenway to Patriot Place, and indeed around New England and the world.

Leonardo DiCaprio has played famous, real-life figures before, including Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," but no role has required him to span the length of time that he does in Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar" as the former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Well, unless you count the days upon weeks upon years that pass in "Inception," but that makes my brain hurt just beginning to think about it. DiCaprio portrays this enigmatic, power-hungry figure from his rise through the bureau to his final breaths decades later (with the help of some old-man makeup that isn't entirely convincing)

TORONTO - A new portrait by Leonardo da Vinci may have been discovered thanks to a centuries-old fingerprint and palm print. Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art specialist, said that a fingerprint on what was presumed to be a 19th-century German drawing of a young woman has convinced art specialists that it is actually a Leonardo. Canadian-born art collector Peter Silverman bought “Profile of the Bella Principessa’’ at the Ganz gallery in New York on behalf of an anonymous Swiss collector in 2007 for about $19,000.

ROME - A science reporter on an Italian state television program said he has discovered a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci that could be a self-portrait of the artist as a young man. Piero Angela, a reporter for the "Ulisse" program on the RAI network, told a news conference last week that the drawing was hidden under writing in one of Leonardo's notebooks. A report on the discovery was broadcast yesterday on RAI. Angela said only a nose was visible under writing on a notebook page.