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A conservator repairs a painting and through her work established that it is a Rembrandt worth potentially $200MM

A conservator repairs a painting and through her work established that it is a Rembrandt worth potentially $200MM

The painting, The Adoration of the Magi, is believed to date from 1632 to 1633. Scholars had long believed that only copies of the picture had survived, including well-known examples in Gothenburg, Sweden, and St. Petersburg, Russia.

The work had long been in the collection of a family that had no idea it was a genuine Rembrandt, until 2016, when art restorer Antonella di Francesco took it in for repairs after it fell off a wall.

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A Small Pennsylvania Museum Just Discovered It Has Owned a Rembrandt for 70 Years Without Knowing It

A Small Pennsylvania Museum Just Discovered It Has Owned a Rembrandt for 70 Years Without Knowing It

For 70 years, leading art connoisseurs and museum curators were certain this painting was not by Rembrandt hand. But, beginning in 2018, researchers performed a variety of forensic tests on the Allentown Museum’s painting, many of which had never been applied to it before, including infrared reflectography, scanning electron microscopy, and cross-section evaluation. They were able to peer into the “past of the painting,” and prove it was a true Rembrandt.

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Sotheby’s to offer newly discovered Peter Paul Rubens masterwork

Sotheby’s to offer newly discovered Peter Paul Rubens masterwork

With the aid of independent forensic examination, including dendrochronological analysis, research now positions the present painting as the earlier and original painting, from which all other known examples were based, and it was likely executed three to six years after Rubens returned to Antwerp from Rome in 1608. The painting is on view at Sotheby’s London 29 November – 4 December, 2019, where it makes its public exhibition debut for the first time…

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Botticelli ‘copy’ in Welsh museum is genuine, experts say

Botticelli ‘copy’ in Welsh museum is genuine, experts say

A doodle of a man’s head unseen for more than 500 years has helped to persuade experts that a painting in the national museum of Wales is almost certainly a genuine Botticelli. National Museum Cardiff has put on display a painting of a Madonna and child that had for decades been dismissed as a crude copy of Botticelli’s style.

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Long-lost Italian Renaissance painting sells for 24 million euros, ($26.6 million)

Long-lost Italian Renaissance painting sells for 24 million euros, ($26.6 million)

A long-lost painting by 13th century Italian master Cimabue that was found in the kitchen of an elderly French woman was sold for 24 million euros ($26.6 million), more than four times the pre-auction estimate, auction Acteon house said. Forensic analysis convinced the experts the painting was real: worm holes in the wood matched with another wood panel painting by the artist.

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Discovey of an Authentic Work by Anthony van Dyck, Britain’s First Art Star, Hiding in Plain Sight

Discovey of an Authentic Work by Anthony van Dyck, Britain’s First Art Star, Hiding in Plain Sight

“This Van Dyck discovery is an especially important one and unequivocally proves the value of this innovative use of digital technology to share and grow knowledge,” Andrew Ellis, Art UK’s director, told the Guardian. This marks the first major discovery from the free-to-use online forum’s hive mind, which considers input from “art detectives” including museum staff, art history scholars, and amateur enthusiasts.

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Long-lost overpainted portrait reveals young Queen Elizabeth I

Long-lost overpainted portrait reveals young Queen Elizabeth I

A mysterious portrait of an unknown woman has been identified as a rare depiction of a young Elizabeth I projecting power, confidence and suitability for marriage. The discovery was announced by the auction house Bonhams, which said the California owners of the painting had no idea who the sitter was until they had it cleaned. The procedure revealed the picture had been overpainted, probably in the 19th century. Andrew McKenzie, the director of the auction house’s old masters department, called it an “important and exciting” discovery.

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A Long-Lost (and Disputed) Caravaggio Due to Fetch as Much as $171 Million at Auction Was Just Sold in a Mysterious Private Sale

A Long-Lost (and Disputed) Caravaggio Due to Fetch as Much as $171 Million at Auction Was Just Sold in a Mysterious Private Sale

A painting experts claim is a long-lost second version of Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes (circa 1607), discovered in a French attic in 2014, will not be hitting the auction block this week after all. In the eleventh hour, Marc Labarbe Auctions in Toulouse, France, cancelled the planned June 27 auction after it received a private offer that was too good for the owners to pass up.

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Forensic Science and the Authentication of Two Disputed Artworks

Forensic Science and the Authentication of Two Disputed Artworks

Recent cases demonstrate the role of forensic science in the authentication of fine art. Paintings by Botticelli and van Gogh, the authenticity and attribution of which had previously been called into question, have been authenticated with the help of X-ray imaging, pigment testing, and infrared analysis…

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Center for Art Law on Paul Biro vs Conde Nast

Center for Art Law on Paul Biro vs Conde Nast

“What’s in a Name?” Peter Paul Biro v. Condé Nast for Defamation Read: Article on Biro from the Center for Art Law   Date: May 20, 2013 By Irina Tarsis, Esq. “Sticks and stones may break my bones But names will never hurt me.” 19th Century English nursery rhyme ...

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News

Art and Microscopy

Art and Microscopy

Peter Paul Biro of Forensic Studies in Art, Montreal, Canada and Dr Alison Crossley, Honorary Secretary of the Electron Microscopy Group, Royal… Alongside chemical evidence, physical evidence obtained by microscopy can also help to attribute an artwork to an artist. Peter Paul Biro of Forensic Studies in Art, Montreal, Canada, demonstrated examples of paintings by artists such as JW Turner…

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Peter Paul Biro and Martin Kemp Analyze Possible Da Vinci Painting

Peter Paul Biro and Martin Kemp Analyze Possible Da Vinci Painting

A fingerprint has intensified the debate about the origin of a mysterious drawing sold at auction for $21,850. Experts don’t agree whether it’s a 19th–century German work or a genuine Leonardo worth $150 million. Is it a bargain Leonardo da Vinci picked up under the noses of connoisseurs or is it just an old German drawing?

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Examination Report: Lady with Umbrella, Whistler

Examination Report: Lady with Umbrella, Whistler

In April 2013, Peter Paul Biro conducted a day-long, detailed condition examination of the oil on canvas painting, Lady with Parasol. Widely attributed to Whistler, the painting has long hung in the Butler Institute of American Art, in Youngstown, Ohio. Present at the examination was Dr. Louis A. Zona, Director and Chief Curator of the Butler Institute and two staff members.

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