Italian police thwart illegal sale of Artemisia Gentileschi painting

Carabinieri allege dealers fraudulently exported 2m work by 17th-century baroque artist for auction in Vienna

Italian police have prevented the potential illegal sale by a Viennese auction house of a 17th-century painting by the baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi.

The carabinieri art squad said dealers had allegedly described the work as being painted by a follower of Gentileschi, and not the artist herself, in order to fraudulently obtain export permission from Italian authorities.