Yale discovers Velazquez painting in its holdings

[July 19, 2010]  NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Yale art experts say they've discovered a painting in their midst is a work by renowned Spanish baroque artist Diego Velazquez.

The Yale University Art Gallery recently researched its full inventory in preparation for its expansion and renovation and found the painting.

The artwork, "The Education of the Virgin," previously was attributed to an unknown 17th-century Spanish painter. Two brothers from New Haven, Conn., donated it to Yale in 1925, when the painting was already more than 300 years old and in poor condition.

Experts recently reattributed it to Velazquez after six years of research, and it's now being studied for conservation treatment. It's not on public display, and its value isn't known.

[Associated Press]

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