Historians attribute two paintings to Caravaggio: a portrait and a youth with a jug of roses
Gianni Papi and Maria Cristina Terzaghi announced attributions to Caravaggio within twenty-four hours; the attributions remain provisional and Papi's study is unpublished.
Italian art historian Gianni Papi announced on 7 November, at a congress held at the Pinacoteca Cívica in Montepulciano, that he attributes to Caravaggio the painting "Portrait of a Young Man", an oil on canvas measuring 41 x 31 cm, according to larazon.es larazon.es
larazon.eslarazon.esOpen source ↗. A few hours later, Maria Cristina Terzaghi announced the identification of a second work, "Youth with a Jug of Roses". Two attributions within twenty-four hours extend, at least provisionally, the list of works linked to an artist who died more than four centuries ago.
Portrait of a Young Man
The canvas had previously been sold at auction by the Vienna house Dorotheum as an anonymous work of the Tuscan school. Papi has not yet published the full study behind his attribution. For that reason the date he proposes for the painting is not yet known.
Youth with a Jug of Roses
The second painting is dated to 1596-1597, the artist's first years in Rome. Until now it was known only through several copies. The original was located three years ago in the back room of a Paris gallery.
Terzaghi, who also took part in the attribution of the "Ecce Homo" found in Madrid in 2021, has partially reconstructed the provenance of the piece and links it to the Borghese collection larazon.es
larazon.eslarazon.esOpen source ↗. Both attributions are the opinion of the researchers and remain provisional.
The author of the article considers Terzaghi's identification important for understanding the early period of Caravaggio. In his reading, the work shows the sensuality of the painter's pictures before he turned to the language of tenebrism. Some of the roses in the jug are already withered, which, in his view, makes the painting a discreet "vanitas", a reflection on beauty that begins to fade as soon as it is offered to the eye. He also points out that the still life here carries as much weight as the face, and that Caravaggio gives everyday objects an exceptional visual density in this and other early works.
