--- title: Doctor Finds Leonardo da Vinci Sebastian Drawing description: Art experts have authenticated a just-uncovered pen-and-ink sketch, valuing it at $15.8 million. It was part of an inherited collection. canonical: https://time.com/4598170/leonardo-da-vinci-drawing/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-12T20:33:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:25.102Z og:title: French Doctor Finds Leonardo da Vinci Drawing Worth Millions og:description: The pen-and-ink sketch has been authenticated by art experts. og:url: https://time.com/4598170/leonardo-da-vinci-drawing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: French Doctor Finds Leonardo da Vinci Drawing Worth Millions twitter:description: The pen-and-ink sketch has been authenticated by art experts. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Man Who Discovered Leonardo da Vinci Drawing Worth Millions Seems Pretty Chill About It  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Dec 12, 2016 8:33 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Dec 12, 2016 8:33 PM UTC A retired French doctor was in for a surprise when he brought his late father’s art collection in to an auction house: curators [have now attributed](https://news.artnet.com/market/rare-da-vinci-drawing-16-million-tajan-779765) one of the ink drawings to none other than [Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci.](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1917097%5F1917096%5F1917092,00.html?iid=sr-link1) It’s now valued at $15.8 million. The drawing appears to be an expressive study of the martyred St. Sebastian, depicting the muscled saint bound hand and foot, eyes pleading toward heaven, according to the [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/arts/design/leonardo-da-vinci-lost-drawing-discovered.html?hpw&rref=arts&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well). The back of the drawing harbors a few scientific sketches and some writing snippets, helping tip curators off to the piece’s provenance. Another indication? Marks suggest it was made by a left-handed artist. Da Vinci was [also left-handed.](http://time.com/3107557/top-10-lefties/?iid=sr-link3) And although this find is already making waves in the art world—it’s the first new da Vinci found since 2000—it seems the piece’s owner (who prefers to remain anonymous) is not quite as bowled over by the news as one might expect. When auction house directors delivered the information to their client, his response was measured. “I’m very pleased,” the [_New York Times_ reports he said](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/arts/design/leonardo-da-vinci-lost-drawing-discovered.html?hpw&rref=arts&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well). “But I have other interests in life other than money.” On the other hand, the curators called in to authenticate the work were fully enthused. “My eyes jumped out of their sockets,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Carmen C. Bambach told the _NYT_ about seeing the study, which she estimated was created in the 1480s. \[[_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/arts/design/leonardo-da-vinci-lost-drawing-discovered.html?hpw&rref=arts&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4598170/leonardo-da-vinci-drawing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4598170/leonardo-da-vinci-drawing/"},"headline":"Man Who Discovered Leonardo da Vinci Drawing Worth Millions Seems Pretty Chill About It","datePublished":"2016-12-12T20:33:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:25.102Z","description":"\"I have other interests in life other than money\"","url":"https://time.com/4598170/leonardo-da-vinci-drawing/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Art"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4598170/leonardo-da-vinci-drawing/","name":"Man Who Discovered Leonardo da Vinci Drawing Worth Millions Seems Pretty Chill About It"}}]}] ```