The provenance of a painting, drawing, sculpture or other artwork is the list of everyone who has owned it from the time the artist created it to the current owner.

For this provenance to prove the artwork is authentic, the chain of ownership must be uninterrupted and, what is even more difficult, it must be documented every time the ownership changed.

If an artwork was created relatively recently and there have only been a couple of owners, it is often possible to document who has owned it. In such cases, nothing else is required, this information is sufficient to authenticate the artwork.

Sometimes it is possible, for instance, if the painting or sculpture stayed in the same church or monastery for most of its history. In most other cases, alternative authentication methods have to be used.

What is important to remember is that the absence of provenance does not indicate that the artwork is not authentic. It just means the archives have long been destroyed in fires, floods or wars.