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  • IS IT OR IS IT NOT BY CARAVAGGIO?

    The large canvas possibly by Caravaggio

    The large canvas possibly by Caravaggio

    Is it is or is it not by Caravaggio? Amid expert disagreement over whether a painting found in an attic near Toulouse is a Caravaggio, France has placed an export ban on the work for 30 months so it can be studied in depth. It was found in an attic in April 2014 when the owners of a house went to fix a leak. It is a painting of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith from the Book of Judith. Another version of the work, discovered in 1950, is at Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art.

    If it does turn out be to by Caravaggio the 400 year old canvas could be worth as much as 120 million euro.  But it might be by the Flemish artist Louis Finson who was familiar with Caravaggio. It is currently being studied at the Louvre.

    When The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio was discovered in Ireland in 1990 it was authenticated relatively quickly.  The provenance of the work, now in the National Gallery in Dublin, was painstakingly unearthed and traced back to Rome via Scotland.

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