ArtHistory.News

Tuesday, 10 November 2026

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Has Caravaggio’s lost ‘Sense of Smell’ been found?

It’s Caravaggio-tastic in the news at present. But this latest announcement is quite tantalising. This long known composition from many copies was described by Baglione in detail and was known to have been in D’Arpino’s studio in 1607.

Caravaggio (?) ‘Sense of smell’ oil on canvas 66x52.5cm
Caravaggio (?) ‘Sense of smell’ oil on canvas 66x52.5cmPrivate Collection, France Source.

A young man holds a carafe of roses, his lips parted, his heavy-lidded gaze directed towards us. Light catches the loose white sleeve, the petals and the reflection of a window in the glass. The flowers crowd towards his face, bringing their implied fragrance into the narrow space between the sitter and the spectator. Among the recent paintings proposed as lost Caravaggios, this one gives rather more reason to pause.

Maria Cristina Terzaghi has identified the privately owned Young Man with a Carafe of Roses as a work by the artist, describing her discovery in La Repubblica on 8 November. She encountered it in the back room of a Parisian gallery. Its emergence brings a tantalising possibility into view: the recovery of a composition long associated with Caravaggio but familiar through other versions.

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  1. Palma il Giovane, dittico formato dall’Arcangelo Gabriele annunciante e dalla Madonna annunciata
    Palma il Giovane, dittico formato dall’Arcangelo Gabriele annunciante e dalla Madonna annunciataMilano, Museo dei Cappuccini Source.

    · News

    Palma il Giovane’s Brescia commissions come back into focus

    Four centuries after Palma il Giovane painted his great altarpiece for Brescia’s Duomo Nuovo, its restoration will provide the occasion for a more intimate encounter with the artist.

  2. Monica Poole (1921–2003) Herbage, 1979 Wood Engraving 13 x 17 cm
    Monica Poole (1921–2003) Herbage, 1979 Wood Engraving 13 x 17 cmThe Brown Collection Source.

    · Exhibitions

    Monica Poole’s dark visions of nature return to view

    A piece of flint, a tangle of vegetation, the worn contours of a bone: Monica Poole found ample material for her imagination in things easily passed over on a country walk.

  3. Angelika Kauffmann, Domenica Morghen nata Volpato (1760–1811) e Maddalena Volpato nata Riggi (1765–1825) come Muse della Tragedia e della Commedia, 1791. Olio su tela, 125 x 158 cm
    Angelika Kauffmann, Domenica Morghen nata Volpato (1760–1811) e Maddalena Volpato nata Riggi (1765–1825) come Muse della Tragedia e della Commedia, 1791. Olio su tela, 125 x 158 cmVarsavia, National Museum National Museum In Warsaw/phot. Piotr Ligier Source.

    · News

    Kauffmann and Vigée Le Brun: two routes to the top in Naples

    Angelica Kauffmann and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun knew the value of a carefully made image, including their own.

  5. Here attributed to Orazio Gentileschi? Portrait of a Gentleman in Black (oil on panel, 77 x 69 cm)
    Here attributed to Orazio Gentileschi? Portrait of a Gentleman in Black (oil on panel, 77 x 69 cm) Source.

    · News

    Montepulciano’s disputed “Caravaggio” returns to the table

    The gentleman in black at Montepulciano has spent more than fifteen years waiting for his painter to be agreed upon. On 7 November, scholars will gather to consider him again. It is a welcome opportunity to look closely at a fine portrait whose interest need not depend on whether the name Caravaggio remains attached to it.

  6. Duncan Grant, Portrait of Vanessa Bell, 14 April 1961, pencil and biro on paper,
    Duncan Grant, Portrait of Vanessa Bell, 14 April 1961, pencil and biro on paper,The Charleston Trust. Source.

    · News

    Duncan Grant’s last portrait of Vanessa Bell emerges from family papers

    A previously unknown drawing believed to be Duncan Grant’s final portrait of Vanessa Bell has been given to Charleston, adding an unexpectedly intimate work to the record of their long partnership. Discovered among family papers during preparations for Tate Britain’s forthcoming exhibition, the pencil-and-biro study shows Bell lying with her eyes closed, her face seen in profile and slightly from below.

  7. Luca Giordano (Napoli, 1634 – 1705), La Vocazione dei Santi Pietro e Andrea all’apostolato, 1665 circa, Olio su tela, cm 192x252
    Luca Giordano (Napoli, 1634 – 1705), La Vocazione dei Santi Pietro e Andrea all’apostolato, 1665 circa, Olio su tela, cm 192x252Private Collection Source.

    · Exhibitions

    Giordano’s fishermen emerge from private hands

    Peter and Andrew are about to abandon their livelihood. Beside them, another fisherman remains absorbed in the catch, apparently oblivious to the encounter that will change their lives. That contrast between revelation and everyday work animates Luca Giordano’s The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew, now receiving its first public showing at the MarteS Museo d’Arte Sorlini near Lake Garda.

  9. Don’t be fooled. Not Caravaggio’s masterpiece on loan from Bildergalerie at Sanssouci in Potsdam but probably a version/copy formerly in the Gracco Muratti collection in Trieste
    Don’t be fooled. Not Caravaggio’s masterpiece on loan from Bildergalerie at Sanssouci in Potsdam but probably a version/copy formerly in the Gracco Muratti collection in TriestePalazzo Tarasconi, Parma Source.

    · News

    A Caravaggio in Parma? The publicity leaves little room for doubt

    An exhibition promises an “absolute masterpiece” by Caravaggio. Its press announcement tells a more qualified story.

  10. Henry Moore, King and Queen, bronze, 1952-1953
    Henry Moore, King and Queen, bronze, 1952-1953Rick Coulby / Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Source.

    · News

    Moore and Hepworth return to Washington’s renewed Hirshhorn garden

    Henry Moore’s King and Queen have resumed their watch over Washington. The seated bronze couple, made in 1952-53, are among the familiar figures returning to view as the Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden reopens on 31 October after a four-year transformation by the Japanese artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto.

  11. Attribué à Giovanni Battista Ramenghi, dit il Bagnacavallo, Sainte Famille avec Sainte Anne et Saint Jean Baptiste, oil on panel
    Attribué à Giovanni Battista Ramenghi, dit il Bagnacavallo, Sainte Famille avec Sainte Anne et Saint Jean Baptiste, oil on panelBonhams, Paris Source.

    · Art market

    An Intriguing Renaissance Holy Family at Bonhams Paris

    An unusually accomplished sixteenth-century Holy Family, attributed to Giovanni Battista Ramenghi, is among the more intriguing works in Bonhams' forthcoming Old Master sale in Paris.

  13. Attributed to Antonio Corradini (Venedig 1688 – 1752 Neapel) – Donna velata, Italien um 1717 – 1725,
    Attributed to Antonio Corradini (Venedig 1688 – 1752 Neapel) – Donna velata, Italien um 1717 – 1725,Dorotheum Source.

    · News

    Veiled bust leaves its €16,000 estimate behind to make €1.925 million

    A marble bust offered with a €12,000-€16,000 estimate became the unexpected star of Dorotheum’s Vienna auction on 20 October, selling for €1.925 million including buyer’s fees and VAT. Catalogued as Donna velata, attributed to Antonio Corradini, it arrived in the sale with a modest valuation and emerged with a price belonging to a very different order of sculpture.

  15. S. Ivo alla Sapienza
    S. Ivo alla Sapienza Source.

    · News

    Sant’Ivo reopens, with a late Cortona restored

    Above the rooftops of Rome, Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza’s spiralling lantern has long advertised a church that visitors could find frustratingly difficult to enter. Now the doors beneath it are open again. Borromini’s former university chapel reopened on 27 October after an extensive restoration, returning one of the city’s most inventive Baroque interiors to regular public view.

  16. Lot 1005. Johann Koerbecke. Die Verkündigung Mariae. Öl auf Eichenholz. 94 x 78,5 cm. Schätzpreis: 200.000 – 300.000 €
    Lot 1005. Johann Koerbecke. Die Verkündigung Mariae. Öl auf Eichenholz. 94 x 78,5 cm. Schätzpreis: 200.000 – 300.000 € Source.

    · Research

    Lempertz to show both faces of Koerbecke altarpiece wing together

    The auction house says the paintings, separated when a double-sided panel was split in 1936, will be publicly reunited in Cologne on 21 November, each estimated at €200,000-€300,000.

  17. Barbara Hepworth. Figure, 1933 Grey alabaster (Cumberland alabaster) 19 x 14.6 x 6.3 cm (7 ½ x 5 ¾ x 2 ½ in)
    Barbara Hepworth. Figure, 1933 Grey alabaster (Cumberland alabaster) 19 x 14.6 x 6.3 cm (7 ½ x 5 ¾ x 2 ½ in)Osborne Samuel Source.

    · Exhibitions

    An early Hepworth in alabaster at Osborne Samuel

    At just 19cm high, Barbara Hepworth’s Figure of 1933 might seem an unlikely work to hold its own in a company of celebrated British sculptors.

  18. Attributed to Caravaggio, Portrait of Demosthenes (1597–1602) oil on canvas, 76 × 61, Private collection
    Attributed to Caravaggio, Portrait of Demosthenes (1597–1602) oil on canvas, 76 × 61, Private collectionFinestre sull' Arte Source.

    · News

    A shouting Demosthenes and another improbable Caravaggio

    A new attribution assembles documents, poetry and technical evidence around a privately owned painting. The difficulty begins when one looks at the picture.…

  19. Students from Philadelphia take a tour of the Asian galleries at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Photo: Mark Stehle, courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art
    Students from Philadelphia take a tour of the Asian galleries at the Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhoto: Mark Stehle, courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art Source.

    · Conservation

    Philadelphia Museum of Art receives $20m for learning centre

    The planned north-wing project is intended to expand space for school groups, families and hands-on learning, with a design expected by summer 2027.

  20. KARL WESCHKE AND CORNWALL'S LOST MODERNISM By Matt Retallick
    KARL WESCHKE AND CORNWALL'S LOST MODERNISM By Matt RetallickLund Humphries Source.

    · Research

    Karl Weschke and the other story of St Ives

    A forthcoming book by Matt Retallick revisits the German-born painter’s place in Cornwall, with new research on Peter Lanyon’s art school and Francis Bacon.

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