Nothing was known about him for more than half a century: a canvas painted by the young Joaquin Sorolla, when he was only 19 or 20 years old (in 1883), the suffering face of a girl who is torn between life and death. Now, after seven months of study, experts from the Center d'Art d'Época Moderna (CAEM) of the University of Lleida have authenticated the canvas , in private hands since at least 1956.

"After many tests and radiographs, studies of the signature and analysis of the pigments, we can establish that it is certainly a Sorolla. A very interesting Sorolla that was not yet consecrated," says Ximo Company, Professor of Art History and CAEM director. The last official document of the painting dates from 1956, when Francisco Pons, former director of the Sorolla Museum in Madrid, issued a certificate of authenticity that is in the hands of the family that owns the canvas . "But that certificate was not sufficiently proven, despite the great respect for the work of Francisco Pons. We had to check it in a more rigorous and scientific way," adds Company.

The canvas of the dying girl is framed in a popular genre at the end of the 19th century, although it does not belong to Sorolla's classical lighting and its Mediterranean scenes. And it has never left the hands of the family of owners, who prefers to remain anonymous.

"The production of Sorolla is immense: more than 2,200 works. We do not rule out more appearing," says Company. Since 2010, CAEM has authenticated three Sorollas, all from the youth era. The other two pieces were a landscape and a Christ that had been acquired in different auctions under the label of "anonymous author." " The signatures were illegible, but thanks to magnifying glasses we were able to rebuild them, " recalls the professor. Three authentic Sorollas. But more than a dozen counterfeits with apocryphal signatures. "There are more than 2,000 fakes. Since CAEM we have discontinued around a fortnight," says Company. Although in the coming years, new Sorollas may appear.

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