It was only during a cleaning by an art conservator nine years
ago that the painting was discovered to be that rarest of works
- a masterpiece by the 17th-century Italian artist Michelangelo
Merisi da Caravaggio that had been believed missing for 200
years. News of the discovery of the missing Caravaggio, one of
only about 60 known works by the Baroque master, took the art
world by storm. Cleaned and restored, "The Taking of Christ" now
hangs on permanent loan in the National Gallery of Ireland. Its
upcoming exhibition at the McMullen Museum of Art, under a
special concession granted by the Society of Jesus of Ireland,
will be the first showing of the painting in North America. The
story behind the lost-and-found artwork adds to the appeal of a
striking painting that represents Caravaggio at the top of his
form, said McMullen Museum Director Nancy Netzer. "I think
there's a sense of excitement generated when a work of art that
has been well known for centuries through its copies is all of a
sudden discovered,