The ^AAmerican Leonardo

In The American Leonardo, John Brewer uses the dramatic controversy over La Belle Ferronnière as a vehicle to reveal how authority, expertise, and value are all culturally derived and situated. The legal battle over the Hahn Belle raised larger questions about how attributions are made, how they affect both the status and value of art works, and how the entire system of art dealers, curators, and connoisseurs authenticates works of art.