Spain gallery casts doubt on Goya

Madrid's Prado museum has announced that there are reasons to dispute the authorship of one of the gallery's most famous paintings.

The Colossus, painted early in the 19th Century, is traditionally attributed to Francisco Jose de Goya.

But museum experts now say that an investigation has revealed new information about the possible artist.

The revelations follow the identification of two initials - AJ - at the bottom of the canvas.

According to the Prado's investigators, those initials link the work to Asensio Juli, a friend and collaborator of Goya.

The painting depicts a giant walking through a landscape as people flee in panic.

The style of the Colossus was thought to be connected to paintings by the artist about Spain's war of independence against the French.

But, on the basis of their ongoing investigation, the Prado's specialists say they refute the view that Goya is the painter.

The Colossus was not included in an exhibition of the Spanish master's works currently on show in the Prado.

The final results of the study of the painting and the possibility of definitively identifying its creator will not be known for a few months.

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