AI analysis finds £71,000 painting dismissed as copy is a Caravaggio

Exclusive: Study gives 85.7% probability Badminton House version of The Lute Player is by 17th-century master

Dalya Alberge

Sat 27 Sep 2025 

He is one of the most revered artists in western art, yet just a few dozen works by Caravaggio have survived. Now the 17th-century master’s hand has been confirmed in a painting that Sotheby’s and the Metropolitan Museum in New York had dismissed as a mere copy.