Price kept secret <\/strong>
Labarbe said he could not reveal the name of the buyer or the price paid because of a confidentiality agreement.<\/p>\nBut he confirmed that the painting \u2014 dated to 1606 \u2014 will leave France after an export ban, which classed the canvas as a \u201cnational treasure\u201d, was not renewed in November.<\/p>\n
Turquin had earlier told AFP that he was sure the painting was by the volatile and violent genius, who created it while he was on the run from a death sentence for murder.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only is it a Caravaggio, but of all the Caravaggios that are known today, this is one of the great pictures,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe painting is in an extraordinarily good state, much better than the Caravaggios I have seen in Naples,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
But although experts are united in hailing the quality of the work, a minority of specialists \u2014 particularly in Italy \u2014 have their doubts.<\/p>\n
They believe it is a copy made by the Flemish artist Louis Finson, who worked alongside Caravaggio as he painted.<\/p>\n
But Turquin is adamant it is the original from 1606 whose existence was first noted in letters between Italian dukes and art dealers four centuries ago.<\/p>\n
He is more convinced than ever since the canvas was cleaned in January, a process that took three weeks. On top of X-rays, the cleaning \u201chas shown that the painting was changed a lot as it was painted, with lots of retouching. That proves it is an original,\u201d Turquin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCopyists don\u2019t make changes like that, they copy,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
A less virtuoso version of the scene by Finson hangs at the Palazzo Zevallos in Naples.<\/p>\n
Standing in front of what has been called the \u201cToulouse Caravaggio\u201d in a strongroom above his Paris office, Turquin showed the telltale trace of how the artist had changed his mind about which way Judith should be looking.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter five years of reflection, no one has put up a counter-argument,\u201d said the expert, accusing the Italian doubters of \u201cpronouncing against the painting without seeing it. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey say it\u2019s impossible because Caravaggio painted (no more than) 65 canvases\u2026 For them the history of art is set.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turquin said the painting marked a turning point in Caravaggio\u2019s development as an artist. <\/p>\n
The fiercely original painter had created his first canvas on the theme, the far more formal \u201cJudith Beheading Holofernes\u201d in 1598, which hangs at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. <\/p>\n
Condemned to death <\/strong>
But by 1606 Caravaggio\u2019s life had changed dramatically, and he was on the run for murder. He fled to Naples after being condemned to death for stabbing a man in a street brawl in Rome.<\/p>\n\u201cHe was painting faster, more spontaneously and more strikingly,\u201d said Turquin, adding that the painting reflects his now darker view of life.<\/p>\n
Other experts have speculated that Finson could have added his own touches to the canvas after Caravaggio left suddenly for Malta in 1607, where he hoped he might be safer from his enemies. <\/p>\n
The family who owned the painting \u2014 who have not been named \u2014 believe it may have been brought to France by one of their ancestors, an officer in Napoleon\u2019s army.<\/p>\n
The Corsican emperor invaded the then Kingdom of Naples in 1806 and put his brother Joseph on the throne.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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