Lost `$170 million Caravaggio` snapped up before French auction
(Artdaily.org)

A painting thought to be a `lost masterpiece` by Italian painter Caravaggio has been bought two days before it was due to go under the hammer in France. `Judith and Holofernes`, which was found under an old mattress in the attic of a house in the French city of Toulouse, was snapped up by a foreign buyer, the auction house selling it said on Tuesday. Art expert Eric Turquin -- who authenticated the painting -- said it was worth between 100 and 150 million euros (up to $170 million), although several Italian specialists have doubts about the canvas. But Turquin, France`s leading authority on Old Masters paintings, had staked his reputation on the work being the fiery artist`s lost `Judith and Holofernes`. The painting depicting a grisly biblical scene of the beautiful