EL GRECO DRAMATIC ART FINDS OR AN INTERESTING ENIGMA. A moving and beautiful painting which keeps more questions than answers. It was among dozens of others in this dank and dismal basement of the middle-income house in London´s Portobello Road. It´s owner got just made a few works open to a favorite gallery and the state of some of them appeared critical as some revealed balding areas which would take a lot of work and expense to restore. It had been badly lit and three of them, although obviously over coated in two instances, stood out as clear masterworks round the 17th apparently. Or sixteenth century.
Relining and patch maintenance behind the canvases showed they had been looked after over a period and sometimes with whatever materials was affordable at that time. The paintings were on offer at what seemed to be affordable prices taking into account their religious character. One was a Venus or some sort and betrayed echoes of “Titian”. The other, a type of Pieta with an Angel which was very uncommon and even in the twilight produced an impact that regarding to its present owner “delivered a shiver of excitement down his spine”.
He had been used there by a favorite art dealer near Ladbroke Grove who understood his preferences and who got struck lucky both at auctions and in retail buys of quality antiques. This time he knew he had not merely obtained one but three potential “finds” although, as he confessed to the seller, …