Painting: Whodunits

When was it discovered? How did it get into the trunk? Why is there a nude man lying in the fields? Does anyone know the woman in the picture? Did the perpetrator leave any other clues behind?

Normally the stuff of detective novels, such conundrums also bedevil scholars attempting to identify works of art whose authors are unknown. No matter how long such a painting has been hanging, the museum director cannot pass it without a worried, questioning glance. Illustrated on the following color pages are four famous mysteries that have resisted...

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