---
title: Cracking da Vinci’s Genetic Code
date: 2026-05-20T10:15:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/cracking-da-vincis-genetic-code"
section: Articles
---
# Cracking da Vinci’s Genetic Code

*May 20, 2026* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/authors/karen-shih-09)


- *Photo by Marguerite Mangin*

> Researcher helps establish possible DNA link to ‘Mona Lisa’ artist

*Davinci IMG 1738 1920x1080 — To determine if famed scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci drew the “Holy Child” (shown below), UMD Assistant Professor Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe (left) and forensic biologist Rhonda Roby (center) collected microbial collect swabs from the palm-sized red chalk sketch.*

**FOR CENTURIES,** authenticating a purported Vermeer or Pollock has largely relied on circumstantial evidence. Curators debated the fluidity and weight of brushstrokes, analyzed paint ingredients and carbon-dated canvasses, but could never fully erase doubts.

Now, a UMD researcher could change all that—starting with the original Renaissance man’s DNA.

Cell biology and molecular genetics Assistant Professor Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe and collaborators in the global Leonardo da Vinci Project (LDVP) posted a [study ](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.06.697880v1)earlier this year linking human genetic material they’d recovered from a disputed work by the 15th-century scientist and artist to letters penned by a relative.

Despite Leonardo’s fame and influence, fewer than 25 works are attributed to him, so any newly verified pieces would be momentous. Beyond that, such DNA research has the potential to transform the art world.

“There are so many questions in history that have not been answered,” says Gonzalez-Juarbe. With these “next-gen techniques to study art and cultural artifacts, we can understand history in a biological sense.”

Gonzalez-Juarbe is a microbiome expert, skilled at studying systems with low DNA abundance like the lungs. He was invited to join the LDVP to improve conservation efforts, finding and addressing microorganisms that could damage aging artwork. But when his team recovered human DNA, they realized they had a unique opportunity.


*"Holy Child" sketch of young boy — (Photo by Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe/J. Craig Venter Institute*




**Issue:** [Spring 2026](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/spring-2026)


**Types:** [Explorations](https://terp.umd.edu/category/explorations)