
What's the difference between art created by Leonardo da Vinci and a knockoff? In the case of the Salvator Mundi, the answer is nearly half a billion dollars.
Drawing on a convolutional neural network - a deep learning algorithm that's led to breakthroughs in the analysis of a vast array of visual imagery - intellectual property lawyer Steven Frank and his spouse, art historian Andrea Frank, determined that the 16th century portrait of Jesus was likely a genuine da Vinci.
The effort - accelerated by an NVIDIA RTX 2070 GPU running on the Franks' desktop computer - sheds new light on one of the art world's biggest controversies: the authenticity of a purported da Vinci masterpiece that was rediscovered after being picked up for less than $100 half a century ago.
Steven Frank is a partner at the law firm Morgan Lewis in Boston, where he specializes in intellectual property and commercial technology law. He detailed their efforts to train an AI able to authenticate art in IEEE Spectrum Monday, and revealed the use of the RTX 2070 in an email to the NVIDIA Blog hours later.
Using deep learning, the Franks concluded that the painting was likely genuine, with da Vinci painting the portrait's head and shoulders. Assistants likely painted less important details, such as the right arm and hand, a common practice at the time.
The effort is part of what Steven Frank modestly described as a serious amateur endeavor that has led him to publish three peer-reviewed papers on the intersection of fine art and AI and a fourth extending the technique to cancer diagnosis.
The project is just the latest wrinkle in one of the art world's most intriguing controversies. The Salvator Mundi was originally painted by da Vinci around the year 1500 and later acquired by Charles I of England in the early 17th century.
The painting then disappeared, before being rediscovered in the 20th century. It's been attributed variously to Bernardino Luini, and, later Antonio Bolftraffio, one of da Vinci's assistants, before achieving acceptance by many experts as genuine da Vinci. Although some still disagree.
The work's convoluted history made examining images of the painting the perfect challenge for Frank after completing a graduate certificate from Columbia University in AI. When I got this credential, it sort of emboldened me, he said.
His wife, a retired university curator of visual resources and an art historian, provides invaluable expertise at every point in the process, ensuring they select the appropriate works of art to train the various deep learning models they've built to assess art.
And Frank reports his NVIDIA GPU dramatically speeds up their work, allowing them to train models in hours that used to take days. The time difference is just mind-boggling, he said.
To be sure, the Franks don't intend to replace human experts with their project. But it might, one day, help assess art that experts are unable - or unwilling - to look at.
Prominent art historians can be reluctant to look at unfamiliar work because the risk to the expert's reputation is too great if they get it wrong, Steven Frank explained. The downside of being wrong is much greater than the upside of being right, he said.
AI can step in where experts fear to tread. And while AI isn't infallible, it allows humans to closely examine the features in a painting that led AI to make a categorization.
There is no guarantee that it will be right, but it will be consistent and it will be objective, Frank said.
So while the art world won't exactly be upended by the verdict of the AI the Franks have built, it's still good news for Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud. The member of the Saudi royal family is believed to be the mystery buyer who acquired the painting for $450 million in 2017.
Better news, however, may be in store for Germany's state museum.
The AI-powered system created by the Franks suggests that The Man With the Golden Helmet, which has been attributed to a student of 17th-century painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn since 1985, was painted by the famed Dutch master himself.
Might be worth a second look.
Learn more
Want to learn more about the intersection of art and AI? Dig into the three peer-reviewed papers from Steven and Andrea Frank about their work.
* Salient Slices: Improved Neural Network Training and Performance with Image Entropy, Steven J. Frank and Andrea M. Frank, Neural Computation
* A Neural Network Looks at Leonardo's(?) Salvator Mundi, Steven J. Frank and Andrea M. Frank, Leonardo Journal
* The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Generation, Steven J. Frank, Leonardo Journal
* Resource-frugal classification and analysis of pathology slides using image entropy, Steven J. Frank, Biomedical Signal Processing and Control
Most recent headlines
14/03/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid has expanded its executive leadership team (ELT) with the appointment of three experienced executives: Tom Sharma as chief technology off...
14/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. TVU Networks, a pioneer in live video production and a leader in cloud-based media solutions, is marking its 20th anniversary at the 2025 NAB ...
13/03/2025
(L-R) Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, John Malkovich, Ayo Edebiri, and Juliette Lewis attend the premiere of Opus at Eccles Theatre in Park City. (Photo by...
13/03/2025
Spotify took center stage at the London Book Fair this week, reaffirming our commitment to the audiobook market and showcasing our impact on the publishing indu...
13/03/2025
At Spotify, we work every day to lift up new voices, giving creators the opportunity to live off their art. Through Spotify Audiobooks, our in-house publishing ...
13/03/2025
Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...
13/03/2025
Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...
13/03/2025
On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...
13/03/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...
13/03/2025
TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...
13/03/2025
DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...
13/03/2025
FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...
13/03/2025
CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...
13/03/2025
he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...
13/03/2025
MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...
13/03/2025
Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
13/03/2025
Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content Feature marks Rokus first women's league-branded zone within service By Bra...
13/03/2025
Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew...
13/03/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size ...
13/03/2025
IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036;...
13/03/2025
NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical...
13/03/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive...
13/03/2025
Sky Business, Sky's B2B division, providing connectivity and content to busi...
13/03/2025
Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark ...
13/03/2025
We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey.
Our 2025 survey p...
13/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...
13/03/2025
Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025
Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...
13/03/2025
Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...
13/03/2025
A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...
13/03/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...
13/03/2025
This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...
13/03/2025
What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...
13/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...
13/03/2025
Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library.
Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...
13/03/2025
AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...
13/03/2025
PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....