The Haddo Madonna

sir – It didn’t need a National Gallery research programme to establish that the Haddo Madonna was not a Raphael (report, August 15), as proposed on the BBC’S Britain’s Lost Masterpieces in 2016.

Artwatch rejected the attribution because: the work didn’t look like a Raphael; the Madonna wore an implausibly racy all’antica dress; the drawing to which the fragment is said to relate belongs to Raphael’s early Perugino-like paintings, not his mature period; the picture’s only “provenance” was an English label on the back of the frame.

The National Trust for Scotland plans to investigate whether wax seals on the picture’s back indicate “a previous owner or… clever piece of trickery”. They might fear the worst – in 19thcentury London, forgery was so extensive that specialist “sealers”, replicated collectors’ wax seals. Michael Daley

Director, Artwatch UK London EN4