Old Masters

9 Stories

Misidentified Painting Sold for $40K Could Now Fetch $8M

Sotheby's to sell original work by old master Peter Paul Rubens, featuring St. Sebastian

(Newser) - A painting that sold at auction for $40,000 in 2008 is expected to fetch at least $5 million when it goes under the hammer next month—and you can't entirely blame inflation. Last time around, St. Sebastian Tended by Two Angels was attributed to the French Baroque painter...

Old Masters' Paint Contained Protein—Likely Intentionally

Researchers evaluate the benefits of adding egg yolk to oil paint

(Newser) - If Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt were alive today, they'd likely be wringing their hands over egg prices with the rest of us. That's because they may have intentionally added egg yolk to their oil paints, and a new study published Tuesday in Nature Communications tries to get...

If AI Is Right, a New Raphael Painting Has Been Found

Quest to prove painting's origin continues 3 decades after it was spotted in antiques shop

(Newser) - A cabinetmaker from Chicago was on vacation in England in 1995 when he spotted a painting tucked behind an armoire in an antiques shop. Anthony Ayers, an amateur artist, couldn't afford the $30,000 painting, which the shop owner suggested was from the Renaissance, but he also couldn't...

Fewer Than 20 da Vinci Paintings Survive. A New Fate for One

The 'Salvator Mundi' will hit the block at Christie's on Nov. 15

(Newser) - A painting will hit the block at Christie's in New York on Nov. 15, and it's tough to say what's more interesting: that it could fetch $100 million, or the story behind it. As the Wall Street Journal reports, getting to nine figures would be an auction...

Green Pigment a Telltale Clue in Art-Fraud Case: Suit

'St. Jerome' contains modern pigment: Sotheby's

(Newser) - St. Jerome was said to have been painted by an Italian Renaissance master and was displayed at Vienna's national gallery before it was sold at auction in 2012 for $842,500. The buyer apparently overpaid. Sotheby's now says the artwork is a fake, not painted by Parmigianino in...

Bad-Boy Caravaggio Hotter Than Michelangelo
 Bad-Boy Caravaggio 
 Hotter Than Michelangelo 
DUELING OLD MASTERS
Mar 10, 2010 9:23 AM CST

Bad-Boy Caravaggio Hotter Than Michelangelo

'Antihero' with no personal records is 'perfect Rorschach' for out time

(Newser) - Watch out, Michelangelo—it appears that the depraved, scandalous, and murderous Italian painter Caravaggio resonates with modern audiences a tad more than the paragon of Renaissance beauty. That’s the opinion of a historian who surveyed scholarly matter on both painters over the last 50 years—books, papers, catalogs—and...

Etching Found in U Bathroom a Rembrandt

Catholic University exhibits its mystery picture

(Newser) - When the president of Catholic University saw the signature "Rembrandt" on a tiny framed portrait he had found tucked into his bathroom cabinet, he showed it off to visitors, but it didn't seem plausible enough to consult an appraiser. Years later, the university finally had the picture appraised, and...

NYC Art Dealer Charged With $88M Fraud

(Newser) - A New York art dealer was charged today with stealing $88 million in investments and artwork in what may be an art-world Ponzi scheme, the Times reports. Investors and collectors say they entrusted Lawrence Salander with funds or artwork after the dealer promised hefty returns. In many cases, they were...

Museum Looks Picture-Perfect Online
Museum Looks Picture-Perfect Online
Aug 13, 2007 1:28 PM CDT

Museum Looks Picture-Perfect Online

Dresden gallery gets virtual replica in Second Life

(Newser) - Dresden’s Old Masters Picture gallery is the first museum to create an online clone, now appearing in all its glory—down to the trash cans and fountains—as a location in the virtual reality game Second Life. The building’s 750 paintings have been reproduced digitally, as have the...

9 Stories