It composition, it strongly resembles a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci held by the Uffizi Gallery and is generally believed to be a 19th century forgery.

[citation needed] In size, style and medium it resembles a portrait of Leonardo by Cristofano dell'Altissimo, painted posthumously for the Medici and also held by the Uffizi.

[2][3] Painted in tempera grassa on panel, 60 by 44 centimetres (24 in × 17 in), it depicts a man in three-quarter view, with a long beard and wearing a dark hat.

[4] In 2008 Nicola Barbatelli, Director of the Museo, discovered the painting, attributed it to Leonardo, and gave it the name Lucan portrait, from Lucania, the ancient name of Basilicata.

[5] In 2017, the University of Malta refused permission for an exhibition in which the Lucan portrait was meant to be the centrepiece, citing doubts by its art history department over the attribution to Leonardo.

[6] The painting was found in 2008 by Nicola Barbatelli, director of the Museo delle Antiche Genti di Lucania, in the private collection of an aristocratic family at Acerenza (population 3,000), a village on the river Bradano near Potenza in Basilicata.

[8] The painting, in tempera grassa on a wooden panel made of poplar 60 by 44 centimetres (24 in × 17 in)[9] is of a man dressed in a dark garment, wearing a black hat with a small upturned brim.

The Vaglia Basilicata City Council then funded an investigation by a team of scientists, many of whom were from non-art related disciplines, to report upon anything which could be tested to either support or deny the attribution to Leonardo.

The INNOVA centre of the Federico II University of Naples, headed by Prof. Terrasi, researched the physical properties of the painting including the ground, medium and pigments, and identifying restored areas.

[10] Cleaning of the back of the board revealed the reversed inscription "PINXIT MEA" written in iron gall, an ink commonly used by Leonardo.

[9] An analysis of the soft tissue of the face, applying methods used in facial surgery, was made by Prof. Felice Festa of the D'Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara.

[12] Art historian David Bershad (University of Calgary), who participated with Hohenstatt in an examination of the portrait in May 2010, later said "there's not enough evidence to sustain an attribution", describing the painting's style as unlike any work by Leonardo.