Is this painting a 'lost' Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece?

A painting from the late 15th Century is not by Giampietrino or Bernardino Luini, says independent researcher Stephen Holmes, but is by the Florentine master painter, Leonardo da Vinci.
“A friend of mine from the Netherlands bought the painting in London in 1978, and I now have a mass of information that shows, beyond reasonable doubt, that this painting is The Lost Leonardo mentioned in more than a dozen art books and articles over the last hundred years. I have spent five years assembling documentation, adding extensive research and now there is not one shred of doubt in my mind that this is the work art historians have said is lost. The painting has never been left in an attic or cellar and forgotten about, but was on display for about 110 years, and had been wrongly attributed”.
I have copies of many versions of this work, and at various times before the twentieth century, there may have been seven or eight paintings of The Holy Children Embracing ascribed to Leonardo. Even works by Flemish artists Joos van Cleve and Quentin Massys have had “Leonardo” on the frame or on the back, but they, and works now ascribed to Marco d'Oggiono and Bernardino Luini have been re-classified as works of a pupil or follower of Leonardo and not by the Master.

So what makes this painting different?

“The attribution to Lionardo da Vinci was made in 1603, by an expert appointed by Pope Clement VIII. That date is close enough to Leonardo's death to be reasonably sure the attribution is correct. Working backwards from 1603, we can say with confidence that the work was in Ferrara in 1597 as a work by Leonardo, and that it had come from Milan prior to 1499 as by Leonardo. At various times in the last 160 years it has been ascribed to Giampietrino or Bernardino Luini, but the background had become so black that it was impossible to see the rocks and plants that speak volumes of Leonardo."

Black backgrounds were favoured by Giampietrino and Bernardino. By a stroke of luck, the painting was cleaned and the leading expert of the late twentieth century, Carlo Pedrtti, described the newly emerged background of rocks and vegetation as 'extraordinary' and 'everything to do with Leonardo in his study of natural forms'. The restorer, Arthur Lucas, said that the quality of the plants was equal to that in the Virgin of the Rocks (by Leonardo) in the National Gallery in London. The image of the Virgin, the Infant Jesus and St. John, was used by Dan Brown in his 2003 blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, and an Italian author, Angela Chiesa, has said (and it is obvious to any observer), that the motif of the Holy Children Embracing is derived from the Virgin of the Rocks.”
Stephen describes his five years of research into the painting as one of the most exciting journeys he has ever undertaken. He has visited the Louvre, the National Gallery and the Alte Pinakothek in Munich to view Leonardo paintings and several libraries in Europe to research Leonardo's writings. His book; Leonardo's Children is almost ready and promises to be very interesting as it exposes some myths that Dan Brown would be proud of having put in his books.
As a final note, Stephen says; “No matter what the 'experts' say, this painting is as close to a Leonardo as any of a dozen other works in galleries in Europe and North America. The documentary evidence is overwhelming. Of course, there is no proof; but we cannot prove that Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa. The evidence is in the painting itself, which 'oozes' Leonardo da Vinci. It was catalogued in 1603 – ten years before the Mona Lisa was first "catalogued" as a Leonardo work.
Professor Martin Kemp said the Holy Infants compared favourably with the London Virgin of the Rocks, and in private discussions, he indicated about 75% on a scale of 'to do with Leonardo'.
Many people put the London Virgin of the Rocks as a 'workshop project', with a significant contribution by Leonardo, so 75% is good enough. Coupling Carlo Pedretti's supportive comments in 1979 with Martin Kemp's opinion in 2005 and 2006, we can say 'beyond reasonable doubt', that there is a re-emerged Leonardo da Vinci painting; The Holy Children Embracing."

Detail of a painting by David Teniers (1653) showing a painting by Bernard van Orley
of The Two Infants Embracing - described as 'after a lost Leonardo'.
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