Double-sided drawing found in France in 2016
Saint Sebastian by Leonardo da Vinci: drawing found and attribution
A 19.3 × 13 cm sheet connects, on both sides, the invention of a martyr in movement and research on light. His attribution to Leonardo is based on their meeting - not on a miraculous signature.
Private collection · current location unpublished
Short answer
Yes, attribution is serious - but the sheet remains private
The drawing that appeared at Tajan in 2016 is a pen and brown ink study for one Saint Sebastian in a landscape. On the front, the young martyr is tied to a tree; on the back, optical diagrams, notes written from right to left and shadow studies produced by a candle bring together art and science on the same paper.
Carmen C. Bambach, then curator of Italian drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, recognized it as an autograph sheet by Leonardo. Patrick de Bayser had previously spotted the tiny inverted writing and the manner of a left-handed designer. The comparison with two other studies of Saint Sebastian kept in Hamburg and Bayonne strengthens the file.
Essential point: the work is not on display in a museum and its current location is not publicly confirmed. An export certificate was ordered by the courts in 2023; this proves neither a sale nor an actual departure from France.
March -December 2016
A box of drawings presented to an auction house
In March 2016, a retired doctor went to Tajan with a file of fourteen drawings inherited from his bibliophile father. The saint's leaf does not come with a spectacular name. It has belonged to the family since the first part of the 20th century and must first be regarded as an anonymous ancient drawing.
The director of the department of old drawings, Thaddée Prate, notices the unusual quality of the figure and landscape. Patrick de Bayser then examines the sheet. By turning it over, he observes scientific studies and a few words drawn from right to left. He then suggests submitting it to Carmen C. Bambach, a leading specialist in Leonardo's drawings.
The public announcement comes on December 12, 2016. The discovery fascinates because it does not rest on a single attractive side: the front and back control each other.
A sheet arrives without prestigious attribution in a family ensemble.
The twisting of the body, the feather and the landscape trigger a thorough examination.
Optics, shadows, awkwardness and mirror writing tip the investigation.
Comparisons and direct examination lead Bambach to recognize Leonardo.
Guided reading
A figure that twists in a living landscape
The saint is not planted frontally like an icon. His legs spread, the pelvis pivots, the torso rises and the head tilts. The body seems to seek an exit while remaining attached to the trunk.
The twist: it combines several directions and transforms torture into a movement problem.
The trunk: it serves as both an instrument of martyrdom and a vertical axis for measuring the instability of the body.
Head raised: it opens the scene towards the sky without requiring a halo or abundant narrative setting.
The landscape: water, reliefs and vegetation give the small leaf a depth of picture rather than isolated exercise.
Attribution
Six clues that should be read together
Controlled energy
The line changes speed, thickens the support areas and lets the paper breathe. The oriented hatching corresponds to the work of a left-handed person.
The body as mechanics
The figure does not only seek beauty. She studies how the hip, rib cage, shoulders and head react to stress.
A few words reversed
Writing from right to left belongs to Leonardo's habits. It is tiny here, but consistent with the scientific notes on the back.
Light and shadow
The diagrams on the candle and the shadows join the research that Leonardo develops in his notebooks.
Hamburg and Bayonne
Two known leaves offer other solutions for the same martyr. The differences are significant, but the laboratory of gesture is common.
Eight Saint Sebastian
A list of Codex Atlanticus mentions eight drawings by the saint. The leaf found could belong to this scattered whole.
What is not enough: mirror writing alone, awkwardness alone, or a general resemblance prove nothing. The attribution becomes convincing through the convergence of style, technique, notes, science, and comparisons.
Three sheets, three solutions
The drawing found opposite Hamburg and Bayonne
Private collection · 19.3 × 13 cm
The drawing found
This detail shows how the knotted legs, the tree and the landscape already form a small composition. The scientific back gives the leaf its exceptional character.
Hamburger Kunsthalle · Inv. 21489
The Hamburg Leaf
The body is isolated and complicated by a strong twist. The museum's analyzes document paper, drawing underlying the charcoal and ferro-gallic ink.
Bonnat-Helleu Museum · 14.8 × 5.4 cm
The Bayonne leaf
Very narrow, it concentrates the movement on the ascent of the body and the links. She recalls that Leonardo multiplied the variants instead of fixing an image too early.
See below the line
The Hamburg Leaf Material Laboratory
The paper
The museum describes a thin, translucent sheet. Its material helps to distinguish front and back, repetitions and possible visual transfers.
The bottom
A dark preparatory drawing, with charcoal, organizes the pose before the pen specifies muscles, contours and attachments.
Ink
Ferro-gallic ink evolves over time. Its current color should not be confused with its initial state.
The method
Technical examinations do not "sign" a work. They check whether the materials and construction are compatible with the period and the proposed practice.
Dating
Florence, then the passage to Milan
The proposed dating is concentrated around the end of the 1470s and the beginning of the 1480s: approximately 1478 -1483 for certain comparisons, or 1482 -1485 depending on the place given to the passage to Milan. This is not an absolute contradiction, but a normal margin for an undated sheet.
During this period, Leonardo transformed drawing into a versatile instrument. He prepares ambitious compositions like The Adoration of the Magi, dissects the movement of bodies, studies water, light and mechanisms. THE San Sebastian belongs precisely to this moment when the sacred figure also becomes a problem of forces.
No completed painting of Saint Sebastian by Leonardo is known today. The sheets can prepare a lost, abandoned or never realized project - without it being possible to reconstruct the final format with certainty.
Iconography
Why Saint Sebastian fascinates Renaissance artists
The Christian soldier, condemned to be pierced with arrows, offers a rare subject: a vertical male nude whose suffering can be shown without battle. The tree or column stabilizes the composition; ties and arrows explain martyrdom; the body allows anatomy, balance and expression to be exposed.
Administrative file
From "national treasure" to export certificate
The sheet is appraised and then announced as a discovery by Leonardo.
The initial refusal of the export certificate gives it the status of a national treasure.
State offers 10 million euros to acquire it.
The owner refuses; a legal expertise mentions 15 million euros.
State ultimately renounces acquisition and then raises doubts about origin.
The administrative court orders the issuance of the export certificate within two months.
Current situation
Private does not mean disappeared
But private also does not mean visible, sold or exported.
What the 2023 decision allows us to say
The Paris administrative court considered that the elements invoked by the administration did not constitute sufficiently serious and consistent presumptions of an illicit origin. He therefore ordered the issuance of the requested certificate.
This certificate puts an end to the legal blocking of definitive export. It does not document subsequent movements of the sheet. In the absence of a public announcement from the owner, a auction house or a museum, the exact formula remains: work in private collection, current location not communicated.
Do not confuse
The three Saint Sebastian in one painting
| Leaf | Location | Format | Particularity | What she proves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drawing found in 2016 | Private collection | 19.3 × 13 cm | Landscape on the front; optics and writing on the back | The direct encounter between figurative invention and scientific research |
| San Sebastian of Hamburg | Hamburger Kunsthalle, Inv. 21489 | Vertical sheet | Strong twist; preparatory drawing for charcoal; ferro-gallic ink | Another autograph solution and a comparable technical file |
| Martyrdom of Bayonne | Bonnat-helleu Museum | 14.8 × 5.4 cm | Extremely narrow format and upward movement | The plurality of variants preserved around the same project |
Extend your gaze
Saint Sebastian and Leonardo in the store
A Florentine interpretation of the martyr, designed around the body, arrows and palm.
Compare interpretations of the martyr, from the Renaissance to the Baroque.
Discover the painterLeonardo da VinciPortraits, religious works and reproductions linked to the Florentine master.
Frequently asked questions
What to remember from the found drawing
When was Leonardo's San Sebastian found?
The sheet was presented in Tajan in March 2016 and publicly announced in December of the same year after several expert assessments.
Who authenticated the drawing?
Patrick de Bayser recognized essential clues on the back. Carmen C. Bambach, specialist in Leonardo's drawings, then judged the autograph sheet after examination and comparison.
Is the drawing signed?
No. Attribution is not based on a signature, but on pen, left-handed hatching, anatomy, mirror writing, optical studies and comparable sheets.
What do we find on the back?
Two scientific studies related to light and shadow, including a device with a candle, as well as short texts written from right to left.
How many drawings of Saint Sebastian Leonardo does he mention?
A list kept in the Codex Atlanticus mentions eight Saint Sebastian. We cannot associate each entry with a preserved sheet, but the document confirms the importance of the subject in his work.
Is there a completed painting by Leonardo on this subject?
No completed and recognized painting of Saint Sebastian by Leonardo is known today. The drawings may correspond to a lost, abandoned or never realized project.
How much is the sheet worth?
The State offered 10 million euros in 2019; an expertise cited in the procedure estimated it at 15 million. These historical amounts do not constitute a current sale price.
Where can we see the drawing?
The sheet found is in a private collection and is not advertised as on display. The associated studies of Hamburg and Bayonne belong to museums, but their presentation must be checked before a visit.
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