1.
SV Painting being placed against wall by official and guard
0.16

2.
CU Head of painting ZOOM BACK TO full view
0.35

3.
CU Owner of painting
0.42

4.
CU Features from painting (4 shots)
1.05

5.
CU TILT UP detail from frame
1.23

6.
CU Hand TILT UP frame
1.46



Initials OS/2227 OS/2238



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A painting bought on the American market three years ago as an anonymous 16th century picture, has been confirmed as painting by Raphael.

SYNOPSIS: This is a long lost painting by Raphael. It is a portrait of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino and was painted by Raphael in 1518, two years before his death.

From 1553 until 1738 the painting was recorded int eh inventories of Medici property and later it passed into an English collection. Over the years its origin became clouded and the name of its artist lost. The painting turned up on the American market three years ago and was bought by a New York collector, Ira Spanierman, who suspected it was a great painting. Mr. Spanierman then had the painting viewed and restored by experts who confirmed it was by Raphael. He has declined to speculate what the Raphael might be worth. Asked about its value, Mr. Spanierman said the pleasures of owning one were infinitely grater than those to be had by materialising a fortune from one.

The subject of the painting, the Duke of Urbino, was the father of Catherine de Medici, wife of the Queen of France and one of the most famous women of her century. He was also the nephew of Pope Leo the Tenth, subject of another important portrait by Raphael, now in the Uffizi in Florence. Experts say the picture is additionally important in that is perhaps the prototype of a style of state portraiture copied by artists in many countries during the Renaissance period.