Sotheby's tries to block lawsuit over a Leonardo sold and resold at a big markup

New York

THE joy must have been palpable in 2013 when three New York art traders arranged through Sotheby's to sell a newly discovered painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance master, for US$80 million.

One of them had purchased it at an estate sale for less than US$10,000 eight years earlier, when most experts viewed it as only the work of Leonardo's school.