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Richard Moshe, general manager of Art Foundation Magazine, Inc., announced that the art world has lost one of its greatest treasures in the person of Carlo Pedretti. The preeminent Italian art historian in the world and the foremost expert on Leonardo da Vinci has died at the age of 90. A native of Bologna, he died after a sudden illness at his villa just outside Pistoia, Italy.
At the time of his death, Pedretti was working to finalize his work on the painting depicting Lucrezia Crivelli. The artwork was one of the last priceless private paintings by da Vinci and one of the few that the renowned artist finished himself. Pedretti was also organizing the sale and management of art exhibitions in China in collaboration with Italian luxury and excellence advisor, Salvo Spagna.
One of Pedretti’s most recent projects was the rediscovered “Salvator Mundi.” Sold at auction by Christie’s and purchased by a Saudi prince for a record $450 million, Pedretti stirred controversy in the art world when he indicated that the “Salvator Mundi” demonstrated da Vinci’s style, but said closer examination was required to ascertain if any part of the painting had actually been completed by one of da Vinci’s students.
One of the art scholar’s most prestigious projects to which he contributed was the 1995 Leonardo da Vinci biography and exhibition tour encompassing 11 countries. During the five months in which it was in Speyer, Germany, more than 340,000 individuals attended the museum exhibit. A total of more than 3 million people have viewed the unique exhibition.
