28 July 2010 / AP, ROME
Art officials have unveiled the painting at the center of the latest Caravaggio mystery, after the Vatican newspaper first suggested and then denied that the canvas was the work of the Italian master.
Art superintendent Rossella Vodret opened the curtain Tuesday on “Martyrdom of St. Lawrence” and said the painting would now be examined to ascertain its attribution. But Vodret and other Caravaggio scholars attending the unveiling in a Jesuit church in Rome agreed the painting did not look like a Caravaggio -- but rather like the work of his followers. They said the quality did not hold up to Caravaggio’s standards. The 183 x 130.5 centimeter (72 x 51 inch) canvas shows St. Lawrence being burned to death, his three executioners in the backdrop.