For many years, scholars believed that the original version of Raphael’s “The Madonna of the Pinks” was lost. In 1991, Nicholas Penny, the director of the National Gallery, travelled to Alnwick castle in Northumberland, where he saw what was thought to be a copy of the original. Penny that the presumed copy warranted further study and brought the painting back to the National Gallery. Conservators took infrared images of the painting, revealing an impressive drawing of the Madonna and Child under the surface. The high quality of the drawing and under painting made it clear to conservators that the presumed copy was in fact an original work by Raphael.

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