Van Gogh painting finally deemed genuine

A Vincent Van Gogh still life depicting a bouquet of flowers has finally been authenticated with the help of an X-ray technique, Reuters reported. 

There has been much speculation over whether or not the painting was truly done by the famed Dutch artist. The work, titled "Still Life With Meadow Flowers and Roses," was originally thought to be a Van Gogh, but doubts about the painting style and the unusual canvas size caused the piece to be discredited in 2003, BBC News reported.

The Kroller-Muller Museum in the central Netherlands has discovered that the painting, which they bought in 1974, was executed over another painting of two wrestlers which matches a description of an image that Van Gogh once mentioned in a letter to his brother, Theo, as a work in progress, the New York Times reported.

"The wrestlers are not completely naked; they wear some sort of pants which is characteristic of the Antwerp Academy, which Van Gogh attended," in 1885-86, the museum's spokeswoman, Sylvia Gentenaar, told Agence France Presse. 

The brush strokes and pigments of the work also pointed researchers towards confirming that Van Gogh was the artist, BBC News reported. 

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The study of the painting was done by Delft and Antwerp Universities, as well as the Van Gogh and Kroller-Muller museums and the DESY research center for particle physics in Hamburg, AFP reported. 

The painting will be on display at the museum as of Tuesday. 

“From today, for the first time in its history, the flower piece will be given a prominent position among other works by Vincent van Gogh in the museum’s collection,” the museum said, according to the Times. 

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