New Caravaggio sketches: Real or fake?

When two scholars claimed to have found undiscovered Caravaggio sketches, the art world took notice, but writes Barbie Latza Nadeau, many say the find is too good to be true

TO EVEN begin to appreciate the profound genius of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, it is imperative to stand in the darkly lit back corner of the San Luigi dei Francesi church near Rome’s Piazza Navona when the early-morning light filters through the stained-glass windows set high into the marble walls.

There, in the Contarelli Chapel, three of Caravaggio’s masterpieces dedicated to the sainthood and martyrdom of St Matthew are still in situ more than 400 years after they were originally hung. The paintings were created specifically for this ancient space.