Sotheby's is being sued over claims a painting it sold for £42,000 was actually a £10million Caravaggio. The bitter legal battle was sparked by Lancelot Thwaytes, whose family bought the work for a reputed £140 in 1962 and kept it for almost half a century until its sale in 2006. Renowned collector Sir Denis Mahon bought it at auction, where it was advertised as an imitator's version of Caravaggio's masterpiece The Cardsharps. Scroll down for video Legal battle: This 'copy' is at the centre of a costly High Court fight involving some of the world's leading Caravaggio experts after it sold for just £42,000 - before its buyer declared it was a £10million original
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Painting sold in 2006 was attributed to a follower of the Italian master
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But buyer now says it is a £10m original, High Court papers claim
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Seller Lancelot Thwaytes is now suing the auction house over the row
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Sotheby's deny allegation and insist painting is 'clearly inferior in quality'
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World-class experts will give evidence at month-long trial starting today
'None of the leading scholars who have opined on the painting since Denis Mahon acquired it think that it is by @placeholder.'