The Review Section of the February 18-19, 2023 issue of The Wall Street Journal published an article by Kelly Crow titled , “Is This Painting A Raphael Or Not?”, which tracks the attempts of Anthony Ayers to have a painting he found in an antique shop in England be declared by scholars as a work by Raphael.. Along with traditional art historical analyses, Ayers had the painting examined by a number of analytical methods including computer analysis of the brushstrokes using AI software that has been trained to recognize the style of specific artists. The computer found with 97% probability that sections of the painting were by Raphael. However, paintings conservator Karen Thomas who has worked on the painting is quoted as saying that she worries that “people will see the computer as flawless, but it’s just another tool, not a smoking gun.” Would it really matter if the painting was a work by Raphael or by someone in his studio or circle if the investor owners weren’t interested in selling it and stand to make tens of millions of dollars if it can be attributed to Raphael?
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