Which Famous Artist’s Fingerprint Has Been Discovered And How Might That Provide New Facts About Him?

The artist in question is Leonardo da Vinci whose left index fingerprint was reconstructed from fragments found on 52 documents he was known to have handled.

The detective work by anthropologists could shed new light on what the artist ate, whether his mother was of Arabic origin and help to settle disputed painting and documents attributed to da Vinci. It is known da Vinci often ate when he worked and so fingerprints could include traces of saliva, blood and food.

But perhaps the biggest mystery that could be solved is the artist's parentage. It has long been suggested that his mother was of Arabic origin, possibly a slave who came to Tuscany from Constantinople, a notion that appears to be backed up by documents indicating that Mama da Vinci was of oriental birth.

Fingerprint experts say the reconstructed fingerprint is suggestive of Leonardo's mother being from the East. This is based on the fact that certain populations have specific fingerprint proportions displayed on their dabs. One of the indicators found in the da Vinci fingerprint applies to 60 per cent of the Arabic population.

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