MADAM – Those still reeling in shocked disbelief over the painting Glass with two pears by William Nicholson being judged as not being by his hand [as part of a BBC Fake or Fortune? programme], might take heart from an article on page 9 in ATG No 2355.
It covers a dispute between an Oxford academic, who argues that the Leonardo da Vinci painting Salvator Mundi was for the most part the work of an assistant, and Christie’s, which sold the painting for a world record sum. Christie’s hit back at the claim, telling ATG: “The attribution to Leonardo was established almost 10 years prior to sale by a panel of a dozen scholars, and was reconfirmed at the time of the auction in 2017.”
Perhaps the best counsel is the Oxford English Dictionary, where ‘Opinion’ is defined as a view based on grounds short of proof!