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An international team of researchers claims to have recovered traces of DNA linked to Leonardo da Vinci from a Renaissance-era drawing and historical family documents.
The findings were published Tuesday as a preprint on bioRxiv and reported by Science Magazine. The research is part of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project (LDVP), a global initiative launched in 2014 to study the artist’s biological and familial heritage.
Using noninvasive swabbing techniques, scientists collected biological material from a disputed red chalk drawing known as Holy Child and from 15th-century letters written by a male relative of Leonardo’s family. The analysis focused on the Y chromosome, which is passed down through the paternal line.
Researchers found that DNA recovered from both the artwork and the documents belonged to the same haplogroup, E1b1b, a genetic lineage commonly associated with Tuscany, where Leonardo was born in 1452.
Scientists stressed that the findings do not confirm the DNA belonged to Leonardo himself.
“Establishing unequivocal identity is extremely complex,” said David Caramelli, an anthropologist and ancient DNA specialist at the University of Florence and a member of the project. He noted that the drawing may have been handled by many individuals over the past 500 years, some of whom could share the same genetic lineage.
Leonardo left no direct descendants and his burial site in Amboise, France, was disturbed in the early 19th century, leaving no confirmed remains for direct comparison.
To address these limitations, researchers are sequencing DNA from living male descendants of Leonardo’s father and examining bones recovered from family vaults in Tuscany.
The study highlights the emerging field of arteomics, which analyzes biological traces such as DNA and microbial signatures to complement traditional art-historical methods based on style, materials, and technique.
“Connoisseurship is still what counts,” said Jesse Ausubel of Rockefeller University, adding that biological data may eventually support expert judgment. Researchers say the approach reflects a broader shift in heritage science, where biological traces once considered contamination are increasingly viewed as valuable evidence.
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