Obsession with optics: Caravaggio's The Entombment of Christ (1602-1603). The Renaissance-era painter is famed for his use of light and shade.
Credit: Wikimedia
"There is lots of proof, notably the fact that Caravaggio never made preliminary sketches," Lapucci said. "So it is plausible that he used these 'projections' to paint."
Noting that "an abnormal number of his subjects were left-handed," Lapucci said: "That could be explained by the fact that the image projected on the canvas was backwards."
She added: "This anomaly disappears in the artist's later works, a sign that the instruments he used were improving. Also thanks to technical progress, his paintings gain a lot in depth of field over the years."
Lapucci is especially keen to refute charges of detracting from the artist's work. "His mastery of certain techniques before his time in no way diminishes his genius," she said.
