A team of scientists from Case Western Reserve University has developed a new AI model named PATCH that analyzes tiny sections of paintings to identify the number of artists involved in their creation. The model was applied to two works by El Greco, suggesting that 'The Baptism of Christ,' long thought to be a collaborative workshop piece, may have been painted primarily by the master himself.
This finding challenges longstanding art historical assumptions about El Greco's workshop practices and the completion of his late works. While the researchers position the AI as a tool to complement traditional scholarship, not replace it, the technology represents a significant advance in technical art history, offering a new, data-driven method to investigate questions of authorship and collaboration in Old Master paintings.