It’s said to be another version of Caravaggio’s more famous painting Judith Beheading Holofernes painted between 1598 and 1599, which is on display in Rome.
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The painting was discovered two years ago by art historian Eric Turquin and has been authenticated and restored in absolute secrecy.
A leaky roof could prove to be a lucky break for one family in France.
Their local auctioneer, Marc Labarde, recognised the work as Italian 17th century. Painted around 1604 and missing for about 400 years, it is believed to be untouched since a family member brought it home more than 150 years ago as a souvenir of Napoleon’s military campaigns.
At a news conference Turquin said a third expert believes it to be a Caravaggio original.
Turquin told reporters that Caravaggio may have painted the gruesome scene, which also features a haggard old lady with goiters, in Naples while he was on the run from a murder charge in Rome.
The right-side had a water stain due to the leak, but was in fact in excellent condition. “So I took a bit of cotton and water and rubbed the dirt off the maid’s face”, said Labarde.
After two years of analysis, Mr Turquin admitted that there would be “more controversies than expertise” and “no consensus” over its provenance, with one Caravaggio specialist, Mina Gregori, already questioning its authenticity.
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.
The French government has put an export ban on the painting, saying in a recent statement that the work should remain on French soil in order to better study its origins. According to Turquins team of experts, the two paintings were recorded in Finsons will made in Amsterdam in 1617.
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“It’s a painting of a composition that we know of from the other versions, and whether there’s a Caravaggio behind it we still have not found, or is this an invention by Finson?” Judith, with her “terrible determined stare looks directly at the viewer” while her maid, Abra, appears to encourage her to commit the act. “This is not the sort of picture you would hang in your living room”, said Mr Turquin. A 400-year-old painting that might have been executed by Italian master Caravaggio and could be worth more than 100 million euro…
