Overview
- Peruvian investigators led by the NGO Wanna Film publicly reported late September 2026 that multidisciplinary tests support attributing Meditación y estigmatización de San Francisco de Asís to Doménikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco.
- The team used infrared reflectography, ultraviolet fluorescence, chemical pigment analysis and paleographic comparison with El Greco documents to find no preparatory underdrawing and signs of direct painting or 'en prima' execution.
- Researchers highlighted two tiny readings on the painted Bible edge — one read as 'Doménicos' and another proposed as an Arabic micro‑inscription 'azANqeis' — but both readings are described by the team as limited and contested.
- The canvas, which surfaced in a Miraflores antique shop in the mid‑20th century and was shown publicly in Lima in September 2024, is now in the Museo Convento San Francisco's custody; a replica was donated for display and preventive conservation has been done pending full restoration.
- Scholars say independent technical verification and comparison with Prado catalogues are the next steps and that broader peer review will determine whether the attribution is accepted internationally and what this means for Peru's cultural holdings.