ignored "copy" renaissance painting is real and worth millions !
lyra
Queen's painting not a copy after all
Nov 11, 2006
Experts in London have discovered that a painting owned by the Queen,
which had been kept in a storeroom and ignored as a copy, is instead a
lost work by Caravaggio.
The work, obscured by varnish and dust, had been in the royal family's
possession for 400 years and was kept at Hampton Court.
But after experts had spent six years restoring and studying the piece,
they discovered it was The Calling Of Saints Peter And Andrew, one of
only 50 surviving pieces by Caravaggio, who died in 1610. It is worth
hundreds of millions of dollars.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/887968
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lyra
Forgotten Caravaggio to Go on Display
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Friday, November 10, 2006
(11-10) 08:18 PST LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) --
The restored painting will be featured in an exhibition of Italian
Baroque and Renaissance art that opens at Buckingham Palace in March.
It will also appear in a Caravaggio exhibition opening in Rome on Nov.
21.
Newspaper reports said the painting, which was first bought by King
Charles I in the 17th century, could be worth more than $96 million.
The queen is forbidden to sell items in the Royal Collection, which she
holds in trust on behalf of the nation.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/10/entertainment/e081852S87.DTL
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lyra
Caravaggio Comes Home
How does one manage to misplace a Caravaggio?
It seems that the British royal family recently discovered that they
had one lying around, a painting depicting Saints Peter and Andrew that
great great great etc grandfather King Charles I picked up back in
1637.
The work, which has never been seen outside the confines of the royal
residence, comes back to Italy this week, for a brief visit.
Recently restored in London, tt will be on display at Rome's Stazione
Termini from Tuesday, November 14 through Monday, November 20.
Heir to the throne Prince Charles is expected to pop over and have a
look at it.
http://www.inromenow.com/site%20templates/index.htm
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lyra
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(quote, excerpts)
The Queen finds a Caravaggio in her storeroom
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:59am GMT 11/11/2006
The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew and, right, the canvass before
restoration
The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew, owned by the Royal Family for
almost 400 years, has lain unloved and seldom seen in a storeroom at
Hampton Court for decades.
Misattributed as a copy of a Caravaggio by an unknown hand, it was
valued in thousands rather than millions.
Years of grime, varnishing and zealous over-painting to cover up damage
convinced generations of art historians that it was of little merit. It
was recently valued at "a few tens of thousands of pounds", mainly
because Charles I's stamp was on the back.
Competing with 7,000 other paintings in the collection, it has not been
hung in a royal palace for years and no gallery has asked to borrow it.
In March, it will take pride of place at an exhibition of the
collection's best Italian paintings at Buckingham Palace.
Unusually, Christ is shown without a beard.
The Royal Collection has dated it to between 1603 and 1606 when
Caravaggio worked in Rome.
A copyist would have almost certainly drawn an outline of the picture
he was copying on the canvas but cleaning, X-ray and infra-red
investigation of the work revealed none.
What they did show were incisions, made for the artist's guidance with
the handle of a paintbrush, in the first layer of paint. This was a
well-known feature of Caravaggio's technique. The removal of
over-painting revealed brushwork that was stylistically consistent with
other Caravaggio pictures.
(read the article at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/10/nqueen10.xml
)
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