Richard E. Spear

In 2006 Sir Denis Mahon announced that a version of Caravaggio’s famous Cardsharps that he had bought at Sotheby’s was not a copy, as the auction house had stated, but was by Caravaggio himself. As a result, the vendor, Lancelot Thwaytes, sued Sotheby’s for negligence.

Vividly written by an eminent art historian who acted as an expert witness in the case, this handsomely illustrated account of one of the major art trials of recent times will be of great interest to dealers, conservators and lawyers, as well as all admirers of Caravaggio.