Renaissance master Caravaggio’s paintings cost $860 million

Italian art experts have reportedly discovered around 100 drawings and a number of paintings by the Renaissance master Caravaggio in a find that could be worth over $860 million.

Maurizio Bernardelli Curuz and Adriana Conconi Fedrigolli found the works among a collection held at Milan's Sforza Castle by pupils of painter Simone Peterzano with whom Caravaggio studied from the age of 11.

The pieces were the work of a "strong, quick... hand" showing "the faces, bodies and scenes the young Caravaggio would use in later years," Bernardelli Curuz was quoted as saying by La Repubblica daily.

Photographs of the works, extracts of which were published in the Italian media Thursday, ranged from preparative anatomical sketches to religious scenes, the AFP reports.