British National Gallery Discovers Veronese Copy Is Really an Original

LONDON—Thanks to its new director Nicholas Penny, the British National Gallery has discovered that the painting The Rape of Europa (c. 1570) sitting in its basement is not a copy, as was previously believed, but the real thing by Venetian master Veronese, reports the Times (London). The work was dismissed as a copy in 1913 and relegated to the gallery's basement, until 15 years ago, when Penny, then the gallery's curator of Renaissance Painting, began to research it in conjunction with a book he was writing, The Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings, Volume 2: Venice 1540–1600. He was intrigued by the work because it had been in the collections of Emperor Rudolf II and Queen Christina of Sweden and wrote that, "After cleaning, the painting's technique and palette were revealed as characteristic of Veronese, and the pentimenti and handling were found to be typical of the original work."

Penny, as the National Gallery's new director, is trying to lead the institution toward establishing relationships with collectors of Old Masters, who may eventually loan and bequeath artworks. He also wants to inspire younger collectors to acquire Old Master pieces.