Caravaggio worth fortune found in French attic

[vkkv]

Source: AFP ( Paris)

Paris (AFP) - A painting stumbled upon in the attic of a house in France is an authentic work by Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio and could be worth up to 120 million euros, experts said Tuesday.

The large canvas of the beheading of General Holofernes by Judith from the apocryphal biblical Book of Judith is in remarkably good condition, and was painted between 1600 and 1610, specialists believe.

Expert Eric Turquin said it could be worth as much as 120 million euros ($137 million), describing the painting as having "the light, the energy typical of Caravaggio, without mistakes, done with a sure hand and a pictorial style that makes it authentic".

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/caravaggio-attic-original-experts-134439011.html

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Caravaggio was NUTS! There was really something wrong with the guy.. violent, got in fights, lost his right to carry a sword... but a great artist.

[navarth]

1. great post! thanks

I gotta check my attic

[brush]

2. He was a master of chiaroscuro, very dramatic work.

[JunkYardDogg]

10. That was the 1st thing I thought of as well..

He is one of my more favorite artists
Dramatic is the operative word, and powerful

Lost his right to carry a sword?
Where was the NSA? National Sword Association? What about the 2nd amendment- The right to bear swords?
Just how did they separate his "Sword" from his body? Sounds rather painful
They took his sword away, how did they expect him to get laid? No wonder he was pissed off

[brush]

16. You must be an artist?

[JunkYardDogg]

21. Wanna be, at best

I just really like art,
In art class, long time ago, learned about " chiaroscuro" and I really liked his work
I like powerful works, my favorite painting at the Louvre is Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa"
I see a related progression between Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Delacroix and Gericault, that type of style

I am more of a wiseass than an artist

[brush]

50. Not many people, or wiseasses, know what chiaroscuro is though. So you're cool.

[JunkYardDogg]

58. Thank you for the compliment

This is a really refreshing, interesting thread

[okasha]

53. I'll bet you like Artemesia Gentileschi, too.

[JunkYardDogg]

57. Was not familiar with her

Until now
Very interesting works and her story as well, especially for that time period of male dominance
She did some paintings for the Medicis
Judith Slaying Holofernes is an awesome painting
Thanks for the heads up
Cool stuff

[surfer2009]

3. 120 million Euros

OMG 120 million euros for painting. Its hell of big amount. I am shocked

[brush]

19. Carravagio is in the top tier of artists. His style ushered in the Baroque movement.

[Land of Enchantment]

4. Fascinating. Two things- part of a Monument's Men collection from WWII- secretly

tucked away and never found until now? Or is it a fake? I remember his art being out of proportion like Barbie dolls--weird long arms, necks and legs. This one looks more proportional but Gawd, what a garish topic.

[Hestia]

6. Article says it was purchased in the 19th century by a family member in Spain and brought

to the house, most likely put in the attic due to gruesome scene.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Caravaggio was something else.

He murdered his prostitute/girlfriend's pimp by stabbing him in the groin (the girlfriend was the model in the already-known painting of Judith beheading Holofernes). But it seems like people in those days often had, shall we say, colorful lives. Take, for example, the composer Carlo Gesualdo, a brilliant musician who was as mad as a box of frogs - murdered his wife and her lover (having caught them in flagrante), had himself flogged repeatedly, and was just all kinds of weird.

I wish I could find stuff like unknown Caravaggio paintings in my attic.

[vkkv]

8. Okay, I'll brag! My brother and I found some unbeknownst to us antique maps of my father's

in their basement after he passed... A. Goos / John Speed "Asia" ( 1626), Munster 'La table des Isles neufues.. ' (~1556) , Vaugondy's 'Carte de la Californie', several Tallis maps, a "Franklin On Electricity" book from 1769.. a full page Tarzan comic from the 30's I think it is... Lot's of unseen Hiroshige and Hokusai woodblock prints.. He had given me a Tallis 'North America' map a long time ago and we all knew about the Ortelius, Hondius and Bleau / Jansson maps that he had framed, but not all of these! it was very much a shock. He had very good taste in art. He only paid a couple hundred of bucks for the more valuable maps and some are worth many thousands now.

[Pacifist Patriot]

13. I need to get an attic!

[vkkv]

18. ... or parents who were big art collectors... Both are good to have! eom

[leveymg]

38. You inherited good taste in tunes, as well, I see.

[vkkv]

42. Well.. thank you very much.. Very long time fan of course. An old buddy of mine has a

7" record of "Total Mass Retain" Single Edit from 'Close To The Edge"... didn't get a lot of radio play!

Rest in peace Chris Squire, a bass guitar God as demonstrated by his talent for writing bass lines that weave melodically through several measures before resolving. No one else does that.

[leveymg]

43. All of my buddies are old, these days. Sigh. But, nice to meet new kindred souls before the fact!

From Surrealistic Pillow and Sergeant Pepper's forward, all my days, may all the great bands continue playing at once inside my head. What a soundtrack to this movie!

[GOLGO 13]

7. Caravaggio sounds like the kind of guy I'd do mushrooms with.

What an interesting weirdo.

[dembotoz]

12. only if you wanted to be shown as a victim on the tv show forensic files

[JimDandy]

9. Two experts think it was painted by Louis Finson and not Caravaggio...

Turquin told a news conference on Tuesday that there "will never be a consensus" about the artist.

Two Caravaggio experts he consulted with attributed the painting to Louis Finson, a Flemish painter and art dealer who was familiar with Caravaggio, Turquin said. Finson possessed a number of works from the Italian master and made copies of his pictures.

"But the third expert I met told me that it was not only a Caravaggio, but also a masterpiece," Turquin said. "'Judith Beheading Holofernes' must be considered the most important painting, by far, to have emerged in the last 20 years by one of the great masters."

The picture has been awarded "National Treasure" status by French authorities, meaning that it can't be exported for 30 months, leaving the national museums enough time for its acquisition.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/lost-caravaggio-painting-found-attic-france-38326702

Probably is still worth a lot, even if it is Finson's work and not Caravaggio's.

[vkkv]

11. And other experts say it's a Caravaggio... Sounds as though it still needs to be analyzed more... eo

[JimDandy]

14. It's fascinating that two paintings of this work were mentioned in Finson's will.

He is known to have bought Caravaggio's original and to also have painted at least one copy of it. The article wasn't clear as to whether the original was one of the works explicitly mentioned in the will, but it did say that the acknowledged Finson copy resides in a bank in Naples.

[LynneSin]

15. Why can't I find stuff like this in my attic

Not fair

Only thing I've found was dust and dead bugs

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. I found an old sewing machine in mine.

Also dust and dead bugs.

[Akicita]

20. I'm checking mine now.

[elljay]

22. Is there a market for rodent droppings? nt

[alfredo]

23. He is a master of light and dark, and composition.

As a photography enthusiast, I try to learn from the masters, and his work is an inspiration for my darker, moodier images.

His use of leading lines are incredible in this image

[rusty fender]

25. I've always thought that the story of

his life would make a great movie, sort of like an Amadeus type film.

His birth name was Michelangelo Merisi, but he was referred to as Caravaggio, the town from which he came.

[closeupready]

28. And of course, there WAS a biographical film done.

But since Jarman was openly gay, it doesn't count.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090798/?ref_=nm_knf_i1

It admittedly was a kind of ho-hum film, but it WAS based upon his life.

[rusty fender]

30. I had no idea!

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm going to rent that as soon as I get the chance

[crim son]

48. I strongly disagree that the film was "ho-hum."

It was filmed in such a way as to represent Carvaggio's incredible artistic style. To each his own, of course, but I'd definitely check it out.

[reflection]

26. I will rec this enthusiastically

both for the great story and because I am listening to your avatar as we speak. You have spectacular taste in music, sir/madam!

[vkkv]

27. Great minds think alike! Close To The Edge is truly an amazing piece of work,

Ever listen to Gentle Giant? Check out Three Friends, Octopus, In A Glass House, Power & The Glory or Free Hand sometime..

&nohtml5=False

[reflection]

29. Well acquainted with GG, thanks!

I particularly like the eponymous track on 'In a Glass House'. Even though I was born in 1970 and too young to appreciate it at the time, I find myself gravitating to all of the prog rock from that decade... Crimson, Tull, Genesis, Hawkwind, Captain Beyond and so on. I even have a copy of Solar Music from Grobschnitt that enjoys heavy rotation on my car stereo.

[vkkv]

31. Excellent! Nektar, Le Orme.. ELP, PFM, Banco.. can't forget Magma! All great stuff... eom

[leveymg]

40. All prog bands and fusion music indelibly stamped on my consciousness.

Sat 10 feet away as Sri Chinmoy and Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra) played a back room in a Connecticut restaurant with 15 others one evening and the next weekend took in Yes at a stadium in Jersey City. What nights those were in the summer of '73.

Also was blessed to have seen a number of Caravaggio canvases close up. Also mind-blowing.

[leveymg]

41. Saw GG and Focus at a double-bill at the Academy of Music in '73.

One of the most expansive evenings of my young life.

[vkkv]

44. Wow, nice.. Power & The Glory tour I suppose.. I first saw them open for Yes in '74 on Yes' 2nd

Relayer tour at the Cow Palace in S.F.. G.G. was touring Free Hand perhaps even before it came out in the U.S. Saw G.G. again in San Jose doing the Missing Piece tour and lastly in SF at a very small penthouse club, the Old Waldorf, doing the Civilian Tour. Amazing talent.. Thanks for responding.

[leveymg]

46. Small houses, up close are the best. But, then there was Watkins Glen.

That was July '73, and my personal introduction to larger than life concerts. All 600,000 of us. Along the Allman Bros, The Band and the Dead. That was quite a summer.

[leveymg]

47. It was the Midnight Show in '74. My bad.

But, it was still a great show at the Academy. You wouldn't believe the scene downstairs in the Lounge. Getting my transcendent experiences mixed up. Seems I need to defrag the hard-drive.

[vkkv]

49. "Seems I need to defrag the hard-drive."

Om

[eggplant]

32. There's a good plot element in Ordinary Decent Criminal regarding Caravaggio.

Kevin Spacey is great in it.

[hibbing]

33. Cool

Took two semesters of art history in college while I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. 30 years later I still don't know what I'm doing with my life, but those art history classes stuck with me.

Peace

[shenmue]

34. Love me some Caravaggio

[Surya Gayatri]

35. Here's the canvas itself. Astonishingly light and bright for a painting that's 400 years old.

French art expert Eric Turquin stands beside a painting that may be by Caravaggio, which was found in the attic of a house near Toulouse, southwestern France (AFP Photo/Patrick Kovarik)

[leveymg]

45. Must have been found in an attic 30 years ago, because I recall seeing this painting decades ago.

[allan01]

36. !!!!!

[CTyankee]

37. could be by woman artist Artemesia Gentileschi...

[Little_Wing]

52. I prefer Artemesia's version, CTYankee

Much grittier and realistic. Carravagio's (if it is indeed by him)seems so genteel and antiseptic in comparison. These sisters know what they are doing, and they aren't afraid to get dirty in the process.

[okasha]

54. I don't think so, CT.

Artemesia dealt with the subject three times at least--twice with the actual beheading and once with Judith and her maid about to make their escape with Holofernes' head. All are far more realistic than either the known Carravaggio or the new one, and there's a sexual element (Judith's disarranged gown) that's absent from Carravaggio's rather detatched Judith.

[CTyankee]

56. I actually did an art essay here at DU on her. I had the feeling that since she was a rape

victim, she had a personal stake in the decapitation of Holofernes...

[okasha]

60. I agree.

I did a paper on violence in her work, including self directed violence.. I do remember your essay.and always enjoy your art pieces here.

[CTyankee]

62. I have another one that I hope to post one of these days when health and furniture

issues are resolved.

[okasha]

63. Wishing you a speedy resolution to both.

[CTyankee]

64. me, too. slow process on both fronts. I also have a trip to Sicily at the end of

April. It will be my second trip there, my fifth to Italy and my 13th to Europe. But I am thinking it might be time to stop doing them...I'm not getting any younger...

[Odin2005]

39. The line between genius and insanity is very narrow.

[ailsagirl]

51. A lot of them were nuts but...

aside from a few exceptions, it seemed to make for better art.

Munch's best stuff was painted before he went into a sanitarium (so say the experts-- I don't necessarily agree.)

(Obviously The Scream was painted before)

[Angel Martin]

55. Caravaggio was quite the boy, for sure

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-1289599/A-killer-21-consort-prostitutes-thieves--rage-passions-Caravaggio--A-master-DARK-ARTS-CARAVAGGIO-A-LIFE-SACRED-AND-PROFANE-BY-ANDREW-GRAHAM-DIXON.html

I see him like Richard Wagner, a great man but not a good man.

[UpInArms]

59. hmmm..... a beheading in The Book of Ruth

guess that beheading thing runs in religious circles

[okasha]

61. Book of Judith.