Leonardo Da Vinci’s Fingerprint

Anthropologists in Italy have pieced together Leonardo da Vinci’s left index fingerprint.

The discovery could help shed light on a wealth of information including the food the artist ate and whether his mother was Arabic.

The reconstruction of the fingerprint is the result of three years of research and could also help attribute disputed paintings or manuscripts, said Luigi Capasso, director of the Anthropology Research Institute at Chieti University in central Italy.

“It adds the first touch of humanity. We knew how Leonardo saw the world and the future … but who was he? This biological information is about his being human, not being a genius,” Mr Capasso said.

The research was based photographs of about 200 fingerprints - most of them taken from about 52 papers handled by Leonardo in his life.

The artist often ate while working and Mr Capasso and other experts said his fingerprints could include traces of saliva, blood or the food he ate the night before - information that could help clear up questions about his origins.

For instance, experts determined that the fingerprint suggested Leonardo’s mother was of “oriental origin”.

“It’s not like every population has typical fingerprints, but they do have specific proportions among their signs.

“The one we found in this fingertip applies to 60 per cent of the Arabic population, which suggests the possibility that his mother was of Middle-Eastern origin,” Mr Capasso said.

The idea that Leonardo’s mother could have been a slave who came to Tuscany from Constantinople - now Istanbul, Turkey - is not new and has been the object of other research.

Mr Capasso’s work is on display in an exhibition in the town of Chieti until 30 March.

FROM AOL UK