Italian family believes painting found in a dump in 1960s is a Picasso and seeks authentication

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. After decades of trying to determine the painting’s provenance, Lo Russo believes that a recent battery of tests carried out by the Swiss-based Arcadia Foundation finally offers proof that it's the work of Picasso. Marcante said that the painting is strikingly similar to a 1949 painting attributed to Picasso called “Tete du femme,’’ which is included in the online Picasso Project curated by the Sam Houston State University in Texas. Marcante said that there is photographic proof Picasso visited the ruins of Pompeii in 1917, and asserts that he likely also visited nearby Capri, where he may have painted the Lo Russo-owned canvas sometime in the early 1940s, leaving it behind “forgotten in time.” Marcante is convinced that the found painting isn't a forgery, because of the differences between the two, including different ceilings, and a missing edge on the seat. The painting “Tete du femme,” appears to be of Picasso’s one-time lover Dora Maar, given the dark hair and dark eyes, according to Enrique Mallen, the Picasso scholar who runs the online project.