Cerca Trova

Or seek and you shall find. An art sleuth is hot on the trail of a lost masterpiece by Leonardo Da Vinci that may very well be hidden in a cavity behind a later mural. The "Hall of the 500" in Florence was renovated in the 16th century by artist Giorgio Vasari. An earlier, unfinished mural by Da Vinci may have been destroyed in the process, but then again, may not have been. Vasari apparently walled up other earlier murals rather than destroy them.

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli and officials in the Tuscan city announced this week they had given approval for renewed exploration in the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of power for various Florence rulers, including the Medici family in the 16th century. There, some researchers believe, a cavity in a wall may have preserved Leonardo's unfinished painted mural of the "Battle of Anghiari" for more than four centuries.

"We took this decision to verify conclusively if the cavity exists and if there are traces of the fresco," Rutelli said during a visit in Florence.

The search for the Renaissance masterpiece began about 30 years ago, when the art researcher Maurizio Seracini noticed a cryptic message painted on one of the frescoes decorating the "Hall of the 500."

"Cerca, trova" — "seek and you shall find" — said the words on a tiny green flag in the "Battle of Marciano in the Chiana Valley," one of the military scenes painted by the 16th-century artist Giorgio Vasari.

Between 2002 and 2003, radar and X-ray scans allowed Seracini and his team to find a cavity behind the fresco that is the right size to cocoon Leonardo's work, which was long thought to have been destroyed when Vasari renovated the hall in the mid-16th century.

Shortly after the initial discovery, Seracini's decades-long quest came to a standstill when authorities refused to renew his survey permit.

It would appear that they have reconsidered. More about the hunt can be found at the Editech website, including articles from the New York Times and Cartier Art magazines.