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Caravaggio’s ‘lost masterpiece’ snapped up by unnamed buyer

A painting thought to be a "lost masterpiece" by Italian painter Caravaggio has been bought two days before it was due to go under the hammer in France.

Published: 26 June 2019 09:01 CEST

Caravaggio's 'lost masterpiece' snapped up by unnamed buyer

The painting believed to be Caravaggio's Judith and Holofernes. Photo: Francois Guillot/AFP

Judith and Holofernes, which was found under an old mattress in the attic of a house in the French city of Toulouse, was snapped up by a foreign buyer, the auction house selling it said on Tuesday.

Art expert Eric Turquin — who authenticated the painting — said it was worth between €100 and 150 million, although several Italian specialists have doubts about the canvas. But Turquin, France's leading authority on Old Masters paintings, had staked his reputation on the work being the fiery artist's lost Judith and Holofernes.

Art expert Eric Turquin stands in front of the painting in 2016. Photo: Patrick Kovarik/AFP

The painting, depicting a grisly biblical scene of the beautiful Jewish widow Judith beheading a sleeping Assyrian general, was to be auctioned in Toulouse on Thursday. But before bidding could start a foreign buyer “close to a major museum” stepped in, said Marc Labarbe, the local auctioneer who discovered the painting when he was asked to value some “old things in the attic” five years ago.

“The fact that the offer comes from a collector close to a major museum convinced the seller to accept (the offer),” he said.

Labarbe said he could not reveal the name of the buyer or the price paid because of a confidentiality agreement. But he confirmed that the painting — dated to 1606 — will leave France after an export bar, which classed the canvas as a “national treasure”, was not renewed in November.

Turquin had earlier told AFP that he was sure the painting was by the volatile and violent genius, who created it while he was on the run from a death sentence for murder.

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“Not only is it a Caravaggio, but of all the Caravaggios that are known today, this is one of the great pictures,” he insisted. “The painting is in an extraordinarily good state, much better than the Caravaggios I have seen in Naples,” he added.

But although experts are united in hailing the quality of the work, a minority of specialists — particularly in Italy — have their doubts. They believe it is a copy made by the Flemish artist Louis Finson, who worked alongside Caravaggio as he painted.

But Turquin is adamant it is the original from 1606 whose existence was first noted in letters between Italian dukes and art dealers four centuries ago.

He is more convinced than ever since the canvas was cleaned in January, a process that took three weeks. On top of X-rays, the cleaning “has shown that the painting was changed a lot as it was painted, with lots of retouching. That proves it is an original,” Turquin said.”Copyists don't make changes like that, they copy,” he added.

An expert holds up a radiography of the disputed painting. Photo: Patrick Kovarik/AFP

A less virtuoso version of the scene by Finson hangs at the Palazzo Zevallos in Naples.

Standing in front of what has been called the “Toulouse Caravaggio” in a strongroom above his Paris office, Turquin showed the telltale trace of how the artist had changed his mind about which way Judith should be looking.

“After five years of reflection, no one has put up a counter-argument,” said the expert, accusing the Italian doubters of “pronouncing against the painting without seeing it”. “They say it's impossible because Caravaggio painted (no more than) 65 canvases… For them the history of art is set.”

Turquin said the painting marked a turning point in Caravaggio's development as an artist.

The fiercely original painter had created his first canvas on the theme, the far more formal Judith Beheading Holofernes in 1598, which hangs at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. But by 1606 Caravaggio's life had changed dramatically, and he was on the run for murder. He fled to Naples after being condemned to death for stabbing a man in a street brawl in Rome.

Caravaggio's confirmed Judith Beheading Holofernes is on permanent display at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

“He was painting faster, more spontaneously and more strikingly,” said Turquin, adding that the painting reflects his now darker view of life.

Other experts have speculated that Finson could have added his own touches to the canvas after Caravaggio left suddenly for Malta in 1607, where he hoped he might be safer from his enemies.

The family who owned the painting — who have not been named — believe it may have been brought to France by one of their ancestors, an officer in Napoleon's army. The Corsican emperor invaded the then Kingdom of Naples in 1806 and put his brother Joseph on the throne.

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Ice to AC: Nine of the most common American misconceptions about Italy

It’s no secret that Americans love to visit Italy; the Washington Post predicted in December that the country would be Americans’ top foreign tourist destination for 2023, and the volume of US visitors who’ve arrived in Italy since then appears to have borne this out.

But while many Americans have a deep knowledge of – and love for – Italian culture, there are some surprisingly enduring myths about Italy that can be found in the USA specifically.

Some come close to the truth, while others fall wide of the mark.

There is no ice in Europe/Italian restaurants charge for ice

Fiction – Americans love ice, beverages are routinely served with it and refrigerators in the US often have some type of ice dispenser attached to the door.

But in Italy, ice is simply less prioritised. While ice in your drink will usually not cost you extra, you might need to specifically request it. Soft drinks in Italy are usually served without ice, so if you want your beverage iced, you need to request the drink con ghiaccio – with ice.

A classic Italian spritz should always come with ice. Photo by Tomasz Rynkiewicz on Unsplash

Italian homes don’t have dryers

Fact (mostly) – Tumble dryers do exist in Italy, but they’re rare. A survey published by Italy’s national statistics office (Istat) in 2014 found that just 3.3 percent of Italian households had one, whereas 96.2 percent had a washing machine and 39.3 percent a dishwasher.

Those washing lines strung with laundry hanging above the heads of passers by aren’t there just to create a quaint backdrop for photos – people make wide use of the abundant sun to air dry their clothes and sheets.

That does not mean that Italians in cities don’t occasionally use clothes dryers though if they’re in a rush; some might take items to a nearby laundromat.

McDonald’s is healthier in Italy

Fact (sort of) – McDonald’s uses different ingredients based on the country, and the Big Mac in Italy is (slightly) healthier than the one sold in the United States. It is slightly less calorific, with 509 kCal in contrast to the American Big Mac’s 540 kCal per 100g.

The Italian Big Mac also has less salt and fat, but it does not compare to the world’s healthiest Big Mac (found in Israel).

McDonald’s in Italy also uses EU-sourced ingredients, and the EU restricts the usage of additives and growth hormones. For example Azodicarbonamide which is used to bleach flour, is banned in the EU, but not in the United States, where McDonald’s was still using it as of 2016.

It is true, however, that you can buy beer in McDonald’s in Italy.

McDonald’s burgers are marginally healthy in Italy compared to the US. Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Italians drive small cars

Fiction (increasingly) – Think of Italian cars, and you might picture a classic Fiat 500 puttering around picturesque cobbled streets – but that’s all changing.

2021 was a historic year for the Italian automotive industry: the sale of SUVs surpassed those of medium-sized sedans for the first time, claiming 48 percent of the market share compared to the sedan’s 45 percent.

That may not match the US, where SUVs and pick-up trucks currently account for around 73 percent of vehicles sold, but it’s a huge increase from 2012, when SUVs made up just 17 percent of vehicle sales in Italy.

There are no free public toilets

Fact (mostly) – You will occasionally find an Italian town or city that offers some free public toilets. For the most part though, you’ll have to pay, including in train stations – and even paid public toilets are few and fair between.

Instead, you’re better off heading to one of the many caffe-bars found all over the country and paying for a euro for a bottle of water or a coffee so you can use their facilities – if you ask nicely, you might even be allowed to go for free.

Metro stations, supermarkets and grocery stores tend to not have any toilets at all, and neither will most clothing stores. One place you will find plenty of free public bathrooms, though, is a motorway service station.

Something that strikes many visitors to Italy as odd is the lack of seats on public toilets. Exactly why this is the case is debated, but there’s a general consensus that the phenomenon has rapidly accelerated in the past couple of decades.

A street sign at an antiques fair in Turin. Free toilets in Italy are few and far between. Photo by rashid khreiss on Unsplash

Italy doesn’t have air conditioning

Fact (sort of) – There’s not no air conditioning in Italy – in fact data from Italy’s national statistics office showed that one in two Italian households had AC in 2021.

It’s far less popular than in the US, though, where 90 percent of households have air conditioning. There’s still not much of a culture of AC in Italy, where many believe it will give you a colpo d’aria leading to at best a sore neck and at worst pneumonia – so even households that have a unit tend to use it sparingly.

If your hotel or Airbnb doesn’t specifically mention AC, you can assume it doesn’t have it.

Coca-Cola tastes different in Italy

Fact – While Coke is available almost everywhere in the world, the actual ingredients in Coca-Cola are different in some countries, which could lead some Coke connoisseurs to notice a difference in taste between the products in the US and those in the EU.

The biggest difference is the regular Coke – in the US this uses high fructose corn syrup while in Europe cane sugar is used to sweeten the product, resulting in a significant difference in taste.

You’re much more likely in Italy to come across Coca Zero, the zero-sugar version of Coca-Cola, than Coca-Coca Light, the European version of Diet Coke, which has always been hard to find and which some online sources say Italy stopped distributing altogether in 2022.

Coke in the US: different to its European counterparts. Photo by Cody Engel on Unsplash

You don’t need to tip

Fact – It’s not necessary to tip after a restaurant meal in Italy. However, this is a matter of personal choice and you are free to do so (tipping certainly won’t cause upset).

Diners do often leave some change after a particularly enjoyable meal. In terms of how much to give, some people round up a bill to include a tip, while others give what spare change they have.

Some people may also opt to tip other professionals as well, such as taxi drivers and cleaners, but again – this is optional and typically not a large quantity. In some apartment buildings, residents may give a Christmas card with money inside to the portiere (doorman) as a kind of annual tip.

All cars are stick shift

Mostly fact – In the United States, stick shift vehicles are becoming a thing of the past, but in Italy they are still very much being bought and driven.

As of 2018, around 20 percent of new cars sold in Italy were automatic – which is much higher than the less-than-one percent sold in the 1980s, but still a lot less than the US’s figure of 96 percent.

That said, around 70 percent of SUVs sold in Italy use automatic transition, so with the popularity of these larger vehicles on the rise, you can expect to see more automatics on Italian roads in the future.

What do you think? Have you noticed any other common beliefs or misconceptions about Italy in the US, or elsewhere? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

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