Jan 25, 2006, 17:14 GMT
Paris - The former director of the Louvre Museum said the two paintings claimed by authorities in a French city to be original Caravaggios are merely copies.
Pierre Rosenberg, a specialist in 17th century painting, said that the two paintings found in 1999 under the organ of a church in the central French city of Loches 'can be nothing else but good copies.'
'Let's not dream,' Rosenberg said. 'Caravaggio never copied himself. The originals (of the two paintings) are known.'
Rosenberg made his comments after authorities in Loches said Wednesday they had found two paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio.
The two paintings, one showing Saint Thomas putting his finger in Christ's wound and another showing Christ having supper at Emmaus, were authenticated for Loches by Jose Freches, a former museum curator and Caravaggio expert.
'A series of technical clues, added to the painterly quality of the works, leave me with no choice but to say they are originals,' Freches said.
The two paintings by Caravaggio on which these alleged 'copies' are based are currently on display in London's National Gallery (Supper at Emmaus) and in the Neues Palais in Potsdam (The Incredulity of Saint Thomas).
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