Overview
- Scientists swabbed a red‑chalk drawing known as the “Holy Child” and recovered human DNA alongside bacterial, fungal, plant, and animal traces.
- Y‑chromosome fragments from the drawing and 15th‑century family letters were assigned to haplogroup E1b1b, a lineage common in Tuscany and the wider Mediterranean.
- The team and outside experts caution that the data are highly fragmented and vulnerable to contamination, so the findings do not prove the DNA came from Leonardo.
- Art historians dispute the drawing’s authorship, which limits what the genetic signals can establish about the artist.
- Planned follow‑ups include higher‑resolution sequencing, tests on bones recovered in Vinci that may belong to relatives, and comparisons with living male‑line descendants; the artwork’s recent owner was excluded as the DNA source.