### Italian Family Seeks Verification of Potential Picasso Found in Trash

An Italian family is eager to prove that a painting discarded from a Capri villa over six decades ago is an authentic Picasso. The family, who found the artwork in the early 1960s, has been rigorously collecting scientific evidence to convince Picasso's estate administrators in Paris to validate the piece.

The canvas, depicting a female figure, was retrieved from a pile of trash by a junk dealer and remained on display in the family's living room and later a restaurant in Pompei, near Naples, for many years. It was only after Lo Russo, the dealer's son, became curious about its origins that any further investigation began.

Lo Russo's suspicion that the painting might be significant arose when he spotted a similar Picasso work in a school textbook. Despite his teacher’s and father’s skepticism, his interest did not wane. In his early twenties, Lo Russo and his brother made a trip to the Picasso Museum in Paris, seeking a professional opinion.

"They looked, and they said, 'It is not possible,'" Lo Russo recalled. He chose not to leave the painting for further evaluation, wary of parting with it.

Now, decades later, the family still holds hope that scientific analysis will ultimately confirm that the artwork is indeed a Picasso.