This catalogue recounts the reappearance of an incredible masterpiece that had been lost since 1617. It is the story of its recovery in the attic of an old house in Toulouse by an astute auctioneer and the subsequent long and arduous work of expertise and research, scientific analysis and sensitive cleaning. It is, ultimately, the result of the work of the greatest specialists – Italian, American and English – of the inimitable Caravaggio.