Michelangelo Sculpture In Naples Is Disputed.

A debate over whether Michelangelo was the artist who made a wooden sculpture depicting Jesus on the cross (at right, a detail) continues to enmesh the Italian art world, according to a report by BBC News. Art experts cannot agree on who made the 16-inch-tall statue, which they agree is a Renaissance piece from around 1495, when Michelangelo would have been 20 . The question of the provenance of the sculpture has been rekindled because of a new exhibition in Naples that displays the statue. The cross itself has disappeared, leaving the figure of Jesus hanging in midair, connected to a sheet of transparent plastic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]