A painting has gone on display in Bradford after more than 40 years of debate culminated in the AI-assisted discovery that it was ‘undoubtedly’ the work of Raphael.
The artwork’s resemblance to the Italian painter’s Sistine Madonna sparked years of speculation, and now artificial intelligence has confirmed the likeness between the faces in the two paintings.
The de Brécy Tondo went on display at Bradford Council's Cartwright Hall art gallery yesterday (25 July) and will stay for two months.
Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s executive member for healthy people and places, said: ‘We are delighted to be the first place in the world to have this amazing artwork 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.’
Professor Hassan Ugail, who conducted the analysis and is director of the centre of visual computing at the University of Bradford, said: ‘My AI models look far deeper into a picture than the human eye, comparing detail such as the brush strokes and pigments.
‘Together with my previous work using facial recognition and previous research by my fellow academics, we have concluded the Tondo and the Sistine Madonna are undoubtedly by the same artist.’
Timothy Benoy, honorary secretary of the de Brécy Trust, said: ‘It is only fitting that the Tondo's first public display is in Bradford, where cutting edge technologies at the university have been used to determine its attribution.’
