A new real life Da Vinci Code??

Totally cool!
http://www.nwi.com/articles/2008/12/18/ap/entertainment/d9557tao0.txt

Quote :

Louvre: Sketches found on back of Leonardo work

PARIS - Researchers have found three previously unknown sketches on the back of a painting Leonardo da Vinci that may have been drawn by the Renaissance master.

Paris' Louvre Museum says the sketches feature a horse head, part of a skull and baby Jesus with a lamb. Researchers using infrared cameras found them on the back of "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne."

In a statement Thursday, the Louvre said the style was reminiscent of Leonardo's. Researchers are working to determine whether he drew them.

The sketches are barely visible to the eye. They were discovered during an in-depth examination using an infrared camera that picks up traces of carbon-based pigments often used for sketches.

The painting is in the Louvre's collection.

That does not surprise me. From what I have read over the years, a lot of the famous painters in that era used to sketch what they wanted to paint and then changed their minds, but because paper was expensive, they tended to recycle.

I remember reading something about another famous painter who actually painted over another painting he had done years earlier, and it wasn't known until they did tests like this one.