Two Italian art historians are claiming to have identified dozens of drawings as those of a very young Caravaggio in a collection of works of a master painter under whom he studied in the late 1500s, Belfast Telegraph said.

There was no immediate way to verify the claim.

One noted expert of 16th century art familiar with the drawings said it was likely that at most only a few were done by Caravaggio, but that in any case none show the artist's mature hand.

The hypothesis of Maurizio Bernardelli Curuz and Adriana Conconi Fedrigolli is explained on a website.

The drawings are in the collection of works attributed to Simone Peterzano and kept in Milan's Sforzesco Castle, a tourist site.