Madrid Man Arrested for Fake $1.4 Million USD Leonardo da Vinci Painting
The expired license was legit, but its date raised red flags.
A Spanish man found himself in handcuffs in Madrid, all because of a botched attempt to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci painting, as reported by The Guardian. His downfall began two years ago when French customs agents near the Italian border in Modane caught wind of something fishy: an expired export license. The man was on his way to offload the counterfeit Leonardo for €1.3 million EUR (approx. $1.4 million USD) to a buyer in Milan. The expired license was legit, but its date raised red flags.
French authorities seized the artwork, which depicted Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, an Italian military commander. The case was then passed to Spain’s Policía Nacional in 2022, leading to the man’s arrest on smuggling charges. Experts at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid later confirmed the painting’s true nature: a knockoff from the early 15th-16th century, not a masterpiece by Leonardo. Valued at just $3,200 to $5,400 USD, it’s hardly the treasure it pretended to be.
“The experts’ report concluded that the work was a copy of the Milanese portraits painted around the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century,” Spanish authorities said in an official statement.
