The Art History Mystery Challenge

Welcome to our totally disorganized art museum! The challenge is to help us identify all the masterworks in our virtual museum. We'll post a piece of the painting and one clue to get you started. Can you name the artist and the title of the painting?

Pieces of the painting and clues to the artist's identity will be added every 24 hours until we have a winner, then the next painting in our collection will be posted. Feel free to use any resources at your disposal to help in your search. Challenge winners will receive a shiny award badge that we will add below their profile image. You will retain this award until someone else wins the award.

The AHM Challenge is open to all forum members, not just ws oil painters, so join in and have some fun with us!

If you would like to host a AHM Challenge painting; please send a PM to the Challenge Moderator Callie to receive instructions and notice when to post your painting. Be prepared to check in frequently while hosting a challenge!



Clue = Nationality of this artist is Italian

That's a heck of a clue Janet!
Here's a stab in the dark:
Portrait of Beatrice Cenci by Elizabetta Sirani

Sorry but I wanted to start out as vague as possible. Good guess the small area on the painting does look similar to this one but it's not a Portrait of Beatrice Cenci by Elizabetta Sirani.

OK, one down, a few thousand more to go.....
At first I thought it was a particular DaVinci painting, but the proportions were off. Just thought of someone else who might fit this style - off to have a look

Is it Caravaggio's Stigmata?

I was just trawling through Caravaggio' too

Dale, good guess but it's not Caravaggio's Stigmata.

OK, I just found the same painting that I posted above, only by Caravaggio!
Guess the first one is a copy.
So how about:
Portrait of Beatrice Cenci by Caravaggio

Callie, Its not Portrait of Beatrice Cenci by Caravaggio. But very interesting that the first one was a copy.

Rats!
If you hadn't said it was Italian, I would have guessed Girl w/ a Pearl Earring.
And now you've shot Beatrice down - twice!
Time to try a new direction. Got to go do some work first

Is it Caravaggio's Judith beheaading of Holofernes? I know you showed this as a portrait format rather than a landscape.

Dale, its not Caravaggio's Judith beheading of Holofernes.

This is really funny - I just found "my painting" (see above) again:

Portrait of Beatrice Cenci,
by Italian painter Guido Reni (XVIIth century)
How many Italian artists painted this?

Another one! Wow they certainly liked copying this painting. Its not Portrait of Beatrice Cenci by Guido Reni.