The Guardian newspaper recently reported on some questions over the provenance of the famous painting Samson and Delilah by Peter Paul Rubens :
Above:Samson and Delilah by Peter Paul Rubens, Oil, 1609-1610, 185 × 205 cm
The gallery bought it for £25 million in 1980 and it appears that there have been doubters about its authenticity for decades.
This painting happens to be one of my favourites in the collection and I would often stand in front of it and admire its amazing colour. The highlight there is Samson's muscled back as he lies over Delilah's lap unconscious. Would a change in attribution affect me? The thing is: I like the painting as it is, whoever painted it. It's wonderful to stand in front of a Rubens original of course and you feel you have a connection to something the master touched. But the painting stands alone as a work of art. I'd be sad to see it downgraded but worse for it to be moved somewhere else. I'd also like the debate about it to happen in the open.