Caravaggio controversy in Ireland

Caravaggio's Taking of Christ is one of the prize paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland. Now there are claims that a version in Rome is the original, and the Irish aren't happy. Coverage at the Telegraph and BBC.

I don't have any particular opinion on this myself, but Denis Mahon has apparently weighed in in favor of the Roman painting. Caravaggio's working methods are highly distinctive (among other things, he appears not to have used preparatory drawings, making rough incised outlines directly on the prepared canvas instead), with many autograph paintings showing radical reworking of compositions from the very beginning of work. From what has been reported, the case for the Roman version seems strong -- though what that implies for the Dublin picture is not so clear. If not the original, it could still be an autograph copy -- something not unknown in Caravaggio's oeuvre.

UPDATE: Looks like we called it correctly, according to what the Sunday Times is reporting.

Posted by David on February 18, 2004 9:18 PM