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In 2018 all of Leonardo's drawings and manuscripts belonging to the Biblioteca Reale di Torino were moved to ICRCPAL for a complete scientific characterisation in preparation for the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the artist's death. Except for the famous Autoritratto that was already studied twice in this manner (2012, 2015), the other drawings and documents had never been subjected to scientific investigations. This paper reports the results of the non‐destructive analysis of two drawings: Studi di gambe virili and Autoritratto. The use of three complementary techniques, namely macro‐X Ray Fluorescence (MA‐XRF), μ‐Raman spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), that have different penetration into the material, allowed for the complete chemical characterisation of the artworks. The analyses evidenced the artist's versatility and his mastery in the use of metal points, even unusual ones, such as the pure copper‐point described in literature but never previously revealed in Leonardo's drawings and, to the knowledge of the authors, also in other artists of the 15th century. MA‐XRF also showed the presence of pentimenti in the Studi di gambe virili and highlighted that the Autoritratto was drawn without a metal point preparatory sketch. AFM topographies also revealed that the Autoritratto urgently requires chemical stabilisation. The data collected underline the need to reconsider and reassess the historic‐artistic descriptions of the drawings and that further investigation of other works by Leonardo is necessary to obtain more information supported by scientific studies on the artist's techniques and materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, an oil‐on‐panel painting, portraying Leonardo da Vinci, was found in the monastery of Camaldoli (Arezzo, Italy). The painting comes from a private donation and, over time, it never was moved from the monastery or loaned to museums or art galleries for exhibitions. Historians hypothesise that the painting could be a seventeenth‐century copy of a portrait or a self‐portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. Although, almost certainly, the panel was not signed by Leonardo, it raised a great interest for art experts, since the copy could be the outstanding testimony left to us of an original Leonardo's masterpiece, which is gone lost. The ICRCPAL in Rome, in collaboration with the ISPC‐CNR and the INFN‐LNS of Catania, started a scientific investigation of the painting based on the use of non‐invasive techniques. Macro X‐ray fluorescence imaging technique (MA‐XRF) was employed to document, for the first time, the nature of original pigments composing the pictorial and priming layers. The results allowed to better elucidate the painting technique, also to know the original look of degraded areas, suggesting an appropriate restoration and conservation policy. Novel information has been obtained concerning the pictorial process, since elemental distribution maps revealed an underpainting below the Leonardo portrait. Despite the cleaning process of the panel before its reuse, some pictorial details remained visible to the MA‐XRF analysis, allowing to infer the presumed figure hidden behind the figure of Leonardo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]