Is this an authentic Leonardo Da Vinci painting for sale on eBay?

May 17, 2001 9:58 AM

Is this an authentic Leonardo Da Vinci painting for sale on eBay? Has anyone even seen this painting that is claimed to have been done by Leonardo Da Vinci before? It looks suspicous to me: the seller does not have a rating and their website looks like it was made by a kindergardner. Is this another eBay scam or something of value?
posted by crog (14 comments total)

It's pretty obviously a scam.
posted by jpoulos at 10:00 AM on May 17, 2001

Okay, aside from the cheesy website details and the "see what oil painting we are selling now" phrase, the poor quality of the painting and the location of the seller (I mean c'mon...Slovakia) would suggest to me that this is quite obviously a scam. DaVinci on ebay....please!
posted by Oddsea at 10:32 AM on May 17, 2001

If one WERE going to put Da Vinci on ebay, one would generally at least attempt to slap a picture of it up...possibly even make it a featured item, hmmm?
posted by DiplomaticImmunity at 10:34 AM on May 17, 2001

When a work by someone of Da Vinci's stature is publicly auctioned, it is usually pretty well publicised and handled by an auction company. This does neither.
posted by bonzo at 10:51 AM on May 17, 2001

oh yeah, the web page is loaded from geocities too :)
posted by bonzo at 10:53 AM on May 17, 2001

Scam.

But what I really came here to say was, if you want to give off that knowledgeable-about-art vibe, don't call him "da Vinci"--that's just where he was from. It would be like calling me "de Pontiac." Call him "Leonardo." Thank you for your time.
posted by rodii at 10:55 AM on May 17, 2001

With that regard, I would probably have to be referred to as da Cleveland da Baltimore da North Kingstown. Oi, that's a mouthful! I'll stick with Brown.
posted by starvingartist at 11:02 AM on May 17, 2001

Jon Bell, or Jon de Belltown.

Works well for me.
posted by jragon at 11:05 AM on May 17, 2001

Um, I'd just like to interject here regarding the whole "Don't call him Da Vinci" thing. Surnames evolved from three things - your father's first name (Johnson), you or your father's occupation (Baker, Taylor, Carpenter) or the place your family was from. Just because he was from Da Vinci doesn't mean his surname is invalid. My last name is Privett because 600 years ago, my ancestors lived in the village of Privett, and had for seven hundred years prior to that. As they scattered across the globe, the surname evolved based on the family's original location.

Leonardo da Vinci has become Mr. Leonardo (first name) da Vinci (last name) based on both modern and classical usage. So call him whichever. Just don't call him "Leo".

Just teasing. You can call him Leo if you want. He's dead. He won't complain.
posted by annathea at 11:47 AM on May 17, 2001

Scam or joke. (It's sort of funny, no?)
posted by caraig at 12:35 PM on May 17, 2001

Thanks, you guys! I was thinking about buying this one. I wuz gonna put it right next to my "Jesus Hovering over the Big Rig" on Black Velvet.

A scam. Huh. Can't trust anyone anymore. . .
posted by ColdChef at 2:13 PM on May 17, 2001

you guys are nuts. I'm bidding
posted by matteo at 3:07 PM on May 17, 2001

Annathea, some people's surnames come from whimsy.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 3:54 PM on May 17, 2001

You know, you can score some pretty good handpainted old masters knockoffs from the Hung Long Gallery (and no, I didn't make that name up, and it's not a p0rn0 site) at prices from about $50-250. Hang them on your wall in between velvet Elvis and dogs playing poker. Sure, you'll know they're fake, but what you tell your visitors is up to you (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
posted by JParker at 12:21 AM on May 18, 2001