Painting described as a lost Caravaggio masterpiece has been bought two days before being auctioned France

A painting described as a lost Caravaggio masterpiece has been bought two days before it was due to go under the hammer in France.

The painting, 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 €100m and €150m (up to $170m), although several Italian specialists have doubts about the canvas.

The Guardian reports Turquin, France’s leading authority on Old Masters paintings, had staked his reputation on the work being Carvaggio’s lost Judith and Holofernes.

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.

Via Guardian

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