A Caravaggio painting, which almost sold for 1,500 euros ($1,600) at auction in 2021, will go on display at the Prado Museum thanks to a temporary loan from its owner, the Madrid institution announced.
The work entitled “Ecce Homo”, which shows Christ with the crown of thorns, is just one of sixty paintings in the world attributed to the Italian master specialized in chiaroscuro (1571-1610).
Because it was believed that its author was someone else, it was valued at 1,500 euros in April 2021 by a Spanish auction house. The Spanish Ministry of Culture managed to block the operation at the last minute.
An authentic Caravaggio
Until then, the oil on canvas was believed to belong to a member of the school of José de Ribera, a Spanish painter from the first half of the 17th century known for his religious compositions.
But the Prado Museum issued a report with “sufficient documented and stylistic evidence” to prove that it really was a painting by Caravaggio. After careful subsequent analysis, several experts concluded “that Ecce Homo is a masterpiece by the Italian artist,” the Prado Museum said in a statement.
This fact gives the canvas, made between 1605 and 1609, “an extraordinary value”, since “it is one of approximately only 60 known works by Caravaggio that exist.”
The verification “has represented one of the greatest discoveries in the history of art,” the Madrid art gallery congratulated itself.
The painting, recently restored, will be exhibited at the Prado from May 28 until October, thanks to the “generosity” of its “new owner”, who will “give it on temporary loan”, the museum detailed.
The institution did not reveal the identity of this new owner or the price at which it was finally acquired.
ee (efe, afp)
