Art historians have long expressed deep (0) ____ (ADMIRE) for Renaissance painting. A previously (17) ____ (SEE) work recently surfaced from the attic of an old house; no photograph or catalogue entry for it could be traced. The owners wanted a quick answer, but the specialists were completely (18) ____ (TRUE) about the limits of what could be claimed at that stage. They took a series of precise measurements of the canvas and analysed the pigments and fibres. Pigment analysis can sometimes rule out an attribution if a material was not available during the artist’s lifetime, although it can never prove who actually painted a picture.

Several features of the brushwork were strikingly consistent with those found in securely attributed works by a well-known fifteenth-century painter. Damage along one side had left the canvas with an irregular outline.

The work also appeared to bear the painter’s signature in the lower corner, although experts stressed that this alone could not establish authorship. The local museum is now preparing a new edition of its catalogue to include the work.

Opinions will no doubt differ, but the painting is arguably the most intriguing object in the museum’s forthcoming exhibition, even though its attribution will remain provisional until further tests are complete.