Vatican retracts new Caravaggio claim

27 July 2010

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Detail of the work "Martyrdom of St. Lawrence."

Art historians have concluded that a painting thought to be an unknown work by Carvaggio is not by the Baroque master.

The Vatican newspaper l'Osservatore Romano headlined a story last week about a discovery of a lost Caravaggio titled "Martyrdom of St. Lawrence" in a Jesuit church. Experts from Rome's Museums Authority now say some of the brushwork is too "poor" to be by the artist.

"It is a very, very interesting painting, but I think we can exclude at this point of our studies that it can be the work of Caravaggio," Rosella Vodret, of the Museums Authority, told Reuters.

A more detailed study of the painting is planned. At this point some experts suspect the work is by an early follower or artist in Naples where Caravaggio fled in 1606 after killing a man in a brawl in Rome.

Read more at Washington Post

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