Caravaggio showdown in Milan

Here's the latest from the Sunday Times (previous post here):

The National Gallery is taking its disputed masterpiece by Caravaggio to Italy to silence critics who claim it is a fake.

The Taking of Christ, which portrays the moment Jesus was betrayed by the kiss of Judas, will travel to Milan in October where it will be hung in the Museo Diocesano until the end of November.

The gallery has invited Mario Bigetti, the Italian owner of an identical painting that sparked debate about which was authentic, to lend it to the gallery so the two works can be displayed side by side. . .

The National Gallery’s director was stunned when Maria Letizia Paoletti, an Italian art expert, questioned the authenticity of the Irish painting and claimed an almost identical painting in Rome was the original.

Sir Denis Mahon, the British art historian, came to the gallery’s defence by pointing out both were probably originals. He said the Rome painting was “a very important picture” but the Dublin masterpiece, which came after, was of equal value.

“Caravaggio didn’t make drawings for his pictures unlike most artists but launched onto canvas straight away,” he said. “The result is a lot of changes in his first versions. In fact, in the Rome picture, it is equally original, it is an autograph. Nobody is contesting the quality of the Dublin picture.”

Posted by David on February 22, 2004 10:16 PM