A 400-year-old painting that might have been executed by Italian master
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio has been found in an attic in southern
France.
Eric
Turquin, the French expert who retrieved the painting two years ago,
says it is in an exceptional state of conservation and estimates its
value at 120 million euros (about £100m).
The
picture, whose authenticity has not been established, had been left for
more than 150 years in a property in the outskirts of Toulouse.
Called
'Judith Beheading Holofernes,' it depicts the biblical heroine Judith
beheading an Assyrian general, and is thought to have been painted in
Rome circa 1604-05.
Judith, a widow, was said to have seduced Holofernes before getting him drunk and killing him with his own sword.
Typically
for a Caravaggio painting, it is the moment of the greatest dramatic
impact - the decapitation itself - that it depicted.
Fitting
with his mastery of light and shadow, which the Italian developed into a
technique known as chiaroscuro, the painting is dramatically lit from
the side to emphasise the facial expressions of the murderer and her
maid, Abra.
Mr Turquin told a press conference today that there 'will never be a consensus' about the name of the artist.
Caravaggio is remarkable. He did a lot of Catholic art. Do you see a theme?
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| Beheading of John the Baptist |
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| David with Goliath |
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| Abraham and Isaac |
Labels: Art, Artists
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