London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unknown artist for $20M

Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by LeoPanthera on Saturday May 03, 2025 @02:24AM (#43877223)

An important detail missing from the headline is that the painting has been dated to be from 1500-1510.

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Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by JawsofDeath on Saturday May 03, 2025 @03:13AM (#43877387)

Yes, I thought it was a modern piece and already started thinking it was some kind of scam.

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Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by adamors on Saturday May 03, 2025 @04:42AM (#43877690)

It does look AI generated a bit actually, quite funny

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Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by tasuki on Saturday May 03, 2025 @05:14AM (#43877824)

Indeed. Ahead of its time...

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Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by edm0nd on Saturday May 03, 2025 @02:19PM (#43880987)

same. I thought it was going to be some PR twist on an org caught being involved in the money laundering that blatantly goes on in the art world.

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Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by boomboomsubban on Saturday May 03, 2025 @03:32AM (#43877453)

And it seems to have notable provenance going back for centuries.

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Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by fanatic2pope on Saturday May 03, 2025 @11:07AM (#43879537)

> Dendrochronology has dated the felling of the oak tree of the panel to 1483, which, accounting for the seasoning of the wood, suggests a date for the painting of soon after 1500.

Sounds like they have only dated the wood in the frame to 1500. Hopefully they will do some more research and get more proof.

For reference, Han van Meegeren used old frames and old canvases to forge his works. The article on his career is fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_van_Meegeren

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Re:London's National Gallery purchases a painting by an unkn... by csomar on Saturday May 03, 2025 @02:20PM (#43880995)

How rare paintings from 1500+ really are? I am genuinely asking. Some old artifacts (ie: 3000 BC) are valuable, but most artifacts are not. And there is literally tons of very old artifacts.

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