500-Year-Old Painting Bequeathed by Dying Friend May Be a Da Vinci, Toronto Man Says

One expert says work depicting the Doge of Venice was painted post-humously and is not by Leonardo

Aldo Martinek with the portrait of Doge Agostino Barbarigo, the mayor of Venice from 1486 to 1501, which he believes was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Joan Delaney/The Epoch Times

Aldo Martinek is convinced he has a priceless Leonardo da Vinci painting on his hands, but he’s having difficulty getting a definitive authentication.

The work of art was given to him by a friend who died of cancer and has been sitting in storage for the past 25-plus years. The friend’s father, who was from Germany, bought the painting in Italy in the 1800s.