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Metropolitan Museum of Art officials yesterday said they rigorously examined a 14th-century painting, including using high-tech equipment, before shelling out a record $45 million for it - and they rejected a claim that it's a fake.
But Columbia art-history Professor James Beck stood by his charge that the 11-by-8 inch "Madonna and Child" was a 19th-century forgery.
"They made a terrible blunder," Beck said of The Met.
The museum said the work, attributed to Duccio di Buoninsegna, "is considered by virtually every expert in the field to be a keystone in the history of Western art."
It said it "carefully examined" the tempera and gold on the wood panel before buying it in 2004 in the most expensive purchase ever by The Met.
Curator Keith Christiansen said The Met conducted technical examinations, including using X-rays and infrared reflectography and studying pigment samples that established its Renaissance origins.
He said two authoritative conservators also studied the painting.
"They not only gave it a thumbs-up, they said, 'Boy, we are lucky,' " he said.
Christie's auction house, which arranged the sale, said, "We and all current authorities on Duccio are entirely satisfied by the attribution of the panel to Duccio."
But Beck stood his ground.
"They're trying to say the consensus agrees with them, and that's correct. But the consensus was poorly informed. The consensus also said the world was flat before 1492," he said.
The painting, hanging in The Met's second-floor European Paintings Gallery, drew more attention than usual yesterday, and opinion was divided.
"I think it's absolutely beautiful," said Margot Jacobs, 66, who majored in art history at NYU. "If it's a forgery, it has to be a really good one. It looks real to me."
But she expressed concern because there are no documents showing who owned the painting before the 20th century.
Christiansen said it was "common" for there to be no paper trail for paintings this old.
The Met's acquisition of the only Duccio then in private hands was considered a coup at the time that was cheered throughout the art world.
Beck offered to dispute the question of its authenticity with The Met and its experts.
"I'd be glad to debate them - in front of the picture," he said.
"There's nothing to debate. Absolutely not," Christiansen shot back. "Is everyone in the world an idiot except him?"
jennifer.fermino@nypost.com
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