The Caravaggio Mystery

In 2015, a Magdalene in Ecstasy was discovered in the modest collection of an Italian family. Was it the original by Caravaggio, who disappeared after his death in 1610, or one of the many copies made subsequently? After an expert appraisal, Mina Gregori, one of the greatest specialists on the artist, was convinced of the authenticity of the work. On her advice, the owners searched their archives and unearthed three documents: two inventories of paintings, dating from 1842 and 1864, as well as an old paper mentioning a “Madeleine inverted by Caravaggio”. Starting from these pieces of evidence, an expert in ancient archives and an Italian art historian then launched into a vast investigation to try to retrace the route of the painting.