An AI study has found an 85.7% probability that the Badminton House version of The Lute Player is by Caravaggio. The painting sold in 2001 for about £71,000 as “circle of Caravaggio.” The finding challenges views held by Sotheby’s and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
AI analysis challenges long-held attributions
Tests by Art Recognition, a Swiss specialist, reported a strong match with verified Caravaggios. The firm worked with Liverpool University on research. Dr Carina Popovici, its head, said, “Everything over 80% is very high.”
According to the Guardian, the Met and Sotheby’s had dismissed the work as a copy. Sotheby’s sold it as “after Caravaggio” for £750 in 1969, then as “circle of Caravaggio” in 2001.
Clovis Whitfield, the buyer in 2001, said the painting matched a 1642 description by Giovanni Baglione. He cited minute details like dew drops on flowers. He said the AI result challenges Keith Christiansen, the Met’s former head of European paintings.
Art Recognition also tested the Wildenstein version, which the Met displayed from 1990 to 2013. The AI returned a negative result for authenticity. David Van Edwards, a leading lute maker, said its instrument showed many faults, unlike those in the Badminton and Hermitage paintings.
What the stakeholders say
Whitfield bought the work with collector Alfred Bader, who died in 2016. Christiansen wrote to Bader in 2007 that no modern scholar would consider it by Caravaggio. Christiansen declined to comment for the Guardian.
George Gordon of Sotheby’s cited a “lengthy” and “thoughtful” 2001 catalogue entry. It noted frequent copying of Caravaggio works in the early 17th century. He said recent scholarship does not radically change the 2001 view.
History, versions, and next steps
Caravaggio painted The Lute Player after Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte took him in around 1597. Antonio Barberini later bought the painting. The 3rd Duke of Beaufort acquired it a century after that.
There are three versions. One undisputed version is in the Hermitage in Russia. The Wildenstein version shows a woman instead of a young man.
The Badminton painting is now in London. Whitfield hopes it will enter a public collection. The National Gallery has secured a £375m investment.
Whitfield and Popovici will discuss the case in a new podcast, Is It?, which launches on 27 September. Dr Noah Charney is preparing an academic paper. Geraldine Norman is developing a feature documentary on the painting’s story.
