Infanta Adventure and the Lost Manet

Around 1859, Edouard Manet painted a copy of Velasquez's Infante Marguerite , which hung, then as now, in the Louvre. Brainerd, a Chicago lawyer and art collector, bought a portrait of a serious young girl in 1967 that he believes is the original, long-lost Manet copy (he sold the picture in 1970). Written in a stilted style burdened with hyperbole, this handsomely illustrated study presents a detailed technical analysis of the unsigned portrait. Brainerd, in arriving at his Manet attribution, portrays art historians as a coterie of experts bent on protecting their privileged sphere. Included is a report on the painting's chemistry by forensic scientist Walter McCrone, known for debunking the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. His precis supports the view that the picture was done either by Manet or by someone who used pigments physically identical to those in Manet's palette. (Feb.)