French customs officers thwart €1.3m sale of fake Leonardo da Vinci painting

Spanish police make arrest after being notified that export licence had expired and work is found to be a copy

Spanish police have arrested a man whose alleged plan to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci painting in Italy for 1.3m was thwarted when the work caught the eye of French customs officers.

Although the man had an export licence for the work, which was purported to be a Leonardo portrait of the Italian aristocrat and military commander Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, the licence had expired, prompting customs officers at the Modane border post to contact Spanish police.