The Vatican announced the discovery of a newly identified painting by Mannerist painter El Greco. Art Network News Report. title Redeemer The piece dates back to the late 1500s and was discovered by restorers Alessandra Zarelli and Paolo Violini. While preserving the work, they realized that an unknown artist had overpainted the original.
There is a small oil painting on the boat, Redeemer In 1967, Spanish official José María Sánchez de Muniaín Gil donated it to Pope Paul VI and it hung in the pope’s apartment in the Apostolic Palace. “This piece has never been restored or scientifically studied since its arrival at the Vatican,” Zarelli told Art Network News.
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Once the overpainting layer was removed, the conservation team verified that the painting was a genuine El Greco. “Compared with data from other paintings by the artist, all data confirm that this work is completely authentic,” Zarelli and team director Fabio Moresi wrote in press materials.
As further proof of the painting’s authenticity, high-resolution imaging revealed two potential compositions associated with extant El Grecos: one of his Virgin Mary appears to Saint Lawrence (c. 1580), the other is Saint Dominic worshiping the cross (c. 1590). Together they provide insight into the artist’s working methods.
The restored work is currently on display in the exhibition “El Greco in the Mirror: Two Paintings in Dialogue” at the Papal Villa in Castel Gandolfo, along with a painting of St. Francis of Assisi that the artist created 20 years ago. According to a press release from the exhibition, Redeemer Attributed to El Greco as early as 1970. It is now speculated that the painting was reproduced in the 1960s as demand for the artist’s work increased, possibly by a forger who obtained the deteriorated and unfinished original.
