A lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci may have been found in a Scottish farmhouse, reported The Daily Mail. The work, thought to be a 500-year-old portait of Madonna and child, is potentially worth over $150 million (£100 million) if experts are able to prove its authenticity.

lost da vinci

The lucky owners of the painting are members of the McLaren family, who acquired the possible da Vinci when it was given to them as a gift in the 1960s. Originally bestowed upon George McLaren, it was later handed down to his wife and eventually his daughter, Fiona. But it wasn't until Fiona and her mother were faced with financial difficulties that they decided to look into the painting's value.

It was first brought to auctioneer Harry Robertson, an expert at Sotheby's who assessed the work as a possible da Vinci. "I showed it to [Mr Robertson] and he was staggered, speechless save for a sigh of exclamation," she said, according to People (UK). The painting has since been viewed by a number of other specialists who have reiterated Robertson's sentiments, such as former Antiques Roadshow presenter Sebastian Times, an ex-director at Christie's in Scotland. Other experts, like Professor Carlo Pedretti of the University of California, believe that the painting is at the very least a work of the da Vinci school, possible created by one of his pupils.

There are a number of telltale signs in the McLaren family heirloom that point to da Vinci. For example, aspects of the figures' hairlines, shoulders and toes bear significant resemblance to other da Vinci characters and a fleur-de-lys hidden within the portrait is another typical detail oh his work. More concretely, experts have noted that the woman in the portrait is an exact match of a traced figure in the "Last Supper," which also bears resemblance to "Madonna of the Rocks." The work is also accompanied by a papal bull, an order from the pope that is attached to the back of the painting. It has been confirmed as belonging to Pope Paul V -- the head of the Catholic Church in the early 17th century.

Fiona has also conducted research, which she chronicled in a book titled "Da Vinci's Last Commission," and has made some assessments of her own. She thinks that the portrait is a depiction of Mary Magdalene and her son, not the Virgin and Jesus. She points to the fact that the woman is dressed in red and not the Virgin's signature blue, and notes in the text that the word "Magdalene" can be read on the papal bull. She believes that the da Vinci work would have been perceived as heretical at the time and so the painting's true meaning was concealed.

The painting's authenticity has yet to be solidified, but experts at the Hamilton Kerr Institute at the University of Cambridge plan on conclusively dating the work by next year. With Da Vinci paintings generally fetching around £100 million, Fiona has on her website that she wants to give a portion of the hopeful sale to the Caterina Peace Foundation.

See a slideshow of da Vinci's famous works below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

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  • 1. Leonardo Da Vinci was a <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Heretic_s_Feast.html?id=rIjZo-cvifAC" target="_blank">committed vegetarian</a> at a time when this choice was highly unusual. A <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20375518" target="_blank"> 2010 study suggests that his nonconformist culinary decisions possibly contributed to his stroke</a>. Image: Last Supper 1495-1498

  • 2. Da Vinci was the first person to explain <a href="http://www.uu.edu/dept/physics/scienceguys/2000Oct.cfm" target="_blank">why the sky is blue.</a> (Light scattering, duh.) Image: Lady with an Ermine oil on panel

  • 3. Leonardo Da Vinci was <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jan/26/ambidextrous-children-schools" target="_blank">ambidextrous</a>, meaning he could write forward with one hand and backward with the other. Image: The Virgin and Child with St. Anne from 1500 until 1513

  • 4. Leonardo Da Vinci was also <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8128233/Dyslexia-the-secret-of-Da-Vinci-and-Picassos-success.html" target="_blank">dyslexic</a>, and had trouble reading, writing and spelling. (Luckily his drawing skills weren't too shabby.) Image: Vitruvian Man

  • 5. Mona Lisa is mostly happy, a little bit disgusted. <a href="http://discovermagazine.com/2006/may/10-da-vinci#.UWv0PyvwLKw" target="_blank">Discovery Magazine</a> reported on research on the painted lady's notoriously coy expression. Apparently "researchers at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Illinois used face-recognition software to determine that the Mona Lisa is 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful, and 2% angry." Image: Mona Lisa between 1503 and 1505

  • 6. The devoted artist took his interest in the mechanics of the human body to a new level by dissecting human cadavers to best understand how the human body operates. Image: Studies of Embryos

  • 7. Leonardo Da Vinci, an accomplished lyre player, was first presented at the Milanese court as a musician, not an artist. Image: Study of horses circa 1490 Silverpoint on prepared paper

  • 8. Ever the animal rights enthusiast, Leonardo Da Vinci <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/nov/30/leonardo-da-vinci-animal-rights-activist" target="_blank">reportedly enjoyed purchasing caged birds so that he could set them free</a>. Image: The Virgin of the Rocks

  • 9. Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo were <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2002/oct/22/artsfeatures.highereducation" target="_blank">reportedly frenemies</a>. In <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/25/lost-battles-jones-michelangelo-davinci" target="_blank">"The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance,"</a> Jonathan Jones writes that two rival artists would often cause serious reality show level drama by insulting each other in public. Image: La Scapigliata

  • 10. As if Leonardo Da Vinci hadn't accomplished enough in his lifetime, the multitalented artist and intellectual is now living the dream as an action hero in the new Starz drama "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/11/da-vinci-demons-television-show-poster-art-trailer_n_2662059.html" target="_blank">Da Vinci's Demons.</a>"

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