Lost Raphael masterpiece goes on show in Bradford in UK first

The Bradford and Nottingham teams found the de Brécy Tondo was highly likely to have been created by Raphael

A mystery work which was recently found to "undoubtedly" be by Renaissance painter Raphael has gone on show in Bradford, the first time it has ever been seen on public display.

Teams from the University of Nottingham and University of Bradford used facial recognition technology to examine the painting, known as the de Brécy Tondo.

They found the faces were identical to those in a Raphael altarpiece.

It will now be on display at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery for two months.

The de Brécy Tondo, which sits in a collection set up by Cheshire businessman George Lester Winward and which was thought by some experts to have been a Victorian copy, has been the subject of research and debate for more than 40 years due to its resemblance to Raphael's Sistine Madonna.

The similarity between the Madonnas in the two paintings was found to be 97%, the teams found

In 1995, two years before he died, Mr Winward set up the de Brécy Trust Collection, named after his French ancestors, to preserve his collection of paintings and drawings and make them available for art scholars to study.

Earlier this year, using new facial recognition technology, it was found that the painting was highly likely to be a Raphael masterpiece.

Prof Hassan Ugail, the director of the centre of visual computing at the University of Bradford, said: "Testing the Tondo using this new AI model has shown startling results, confirming it is most likely by Raphael.

Prof Ugail with the painting

"Together with my previous work using facial recognition, and combined with previous research by my fellow academics, we have concluded the Tondo and the Sistine Madonna are undoubtedly by the same artist," he said.

Raphael

• Raphael (Raffaello Santi, 1483-1520) was an Italian artist considered the supreme painter of the High Renaissance era

• The son of a painter (Giovanni Santi), Raphael's work also extended to architecture and design

• Raphael was a noted portraitist in Florence and Rome

• In Rome he also evolved as one of the great history painters

• In 1514, he was appointed architect in charge of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

Source: Art UK

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council's executive member for healthy people and places, said she was delighted the city was "the first place in the world to have this amazing art work on public display".

"It is fitting that Bradford has been chosen for this honour, especially in the run-up to the district being UK City of Culture in 2025," she added.

"I hope as many people as possible take this opportunity to visit Cartwright Hall to view this and the many other great works of art we have display, including work by Bradford artist David Hockney."

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