A Texas museum has bought a work of art believed to be the first ever painting by Michelangelo.

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth has bought the work entitled ‘The Torment of St Anthony’ for an undisclosed sum, even though its worth has not been proved.

The painting is dated around 1487 or 88, a time when Michelangelo would have been 12 or 13 and believed to have been friendly with an assistant at the Domenico Ghirlandaio gallery in Florence.

The artwork is based on an engraving called ‘St Anthony’ by German artist, Martin Schongauer and suspicion falls as to whether it was Michelangelo himself or museum assistants that painted ‘The Torment ‘.

The painting was recently restored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and as the layers of dirt were removed, the original oils were unveiled. X-rays and infra-red scans uncovered changes that an artist would make during a work in progress, implying that the painting is, indeed, an original.

Eric Lee, director of the Kimbell was extremely excited about their acquisition, stating “This is a painting that will be studied for years and years to come.”

The Torment was bought from a private collector by Sotheby’s last summer and sold on to an American art dealer for £1.3m, who was convinced it was a Michelangelo original.

Having restored the work in question, the Metropolitan Museum were also convinced of it’s authenticity, but could not come up with the funds to buy it for themselves.

Without knowing how much the Kimbell paid for the work, if it is proven to be authentic, then they will be the envy of galleries throughout the world, if it is proven not to be, then it could be a very expensive mistake.