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TURIN, Italy, Feb 13, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- An Italian professor says the portrait the world has come to know as a likeness of Leonardo da Vinci probably does not resemble the real man.
The red chalk drawing, along with other works by the famed artist, are on display at Turin's Royal Library.
But Professor Pietro Marani of Milan's Polytechnic University told the Italian news agency ANSA that the face depicted in the portrait is not that of a 48-year-old man -- the age the artist would have been when the drawing was done in 1490.
"I don't question the fact that it was done by him. But I'm convinced the features aren't his. It's more likely to be a study for the head of one of the apostles in 'The Last Supper,'" he said.
ANSA reports the portrait resembled Simon, the penultimate figure on the right in "The Last Supper."
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
