Interactive Reading

Read the passage and answer the question.

When a famous painting sells for millions, buyers often want proof of who made it. Traditionally, experts judged authenticity by studying brushstrokes and style, but their opinions could disagree. Now laboratories examine the physical materials. Pigments contain chemical fingerprints, and certain colors only became available after specific dates. If a painting supposedly from the 1600s contains a pigment first manufactured in the 1800s, it cannot be genuine, regardless of how convincing the style appears. This kind of analysis has exposed forgeries that fooled the eye for years. However, science usually proves what something is not, rather than confirming exactly who held the brush.