FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 file photo visitors admire the portrait of Caravaggio by an unknown painter during the presentation to journalists of an exhibit dedicated to the Lombard painter titled: "Caravaggio in Rome", in Rome. Two Italian art historians are claiming, Thursday, July 5, 2012, to have identified dozens of drawings as those of a very young Caravaggio in a collection of works of a master painter he studied under in the late 1500s. There was no immediate way to verify the claim. One noted expert of 16th century art familiar with the drawings said it was likely that at most only a few were done by Caravaggio, but that in any case none show the mature hand of the artist. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, File)
July 05, 2012 - 4:26 PM
ROME - Two Italian art historians are claiming to have identified dozens of drawings as those of a very young Caravaggio in a collection of works of a master painter under whom he studied in the late 1500s.
There was no immediate way to verify the claim.
One noted expert of 16th century art familiar with the drawings said it was likely that at most only a few were done by Caravaggio, but that in any case none show the artist's mature hand.
The hypothesis of Maurizio Bernardelli Curuz and Adriana Conconi Fedrigolli is explained on a website. They described their research Thursday to the Italian news agency ANSA.
The drawings are in the collection of works attributed to Simone Peterzano and kept in Milan's Sforzesco Castle, a tourist site.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012