Mantle/DiMaggio/Maris Painting
 

I got this over 10 years ago in a trade with a big Mantle collector in PA. It looks to me like the person who painted this copied the style of the famous Ray Gallo painted photo of Mantle in 56. It looks to me and my wife like a painted over photograph but I could never find an example of the photograph. Anyone ever see the photograph and what's your opinion on the painting itself. I think whoever did it did a beautiful job.

I used to know an artist who could project a photo onto a canvas and then "paint" the picture that was being projected.
This looks like one of those to me, but I cannot say for sure.

The surface does not feel like canvas it is hard. I don't want to open the backing but thats probably the only way to be sure.

If you are still interested in finding out, it is likely that it could be an overpaint, the only way for you to find out would be to chip off the top layer.

The technique can be replicated with a camera obscura. A lot of the old masters used the technique as well. It's been around for centuries.

I don't mean painting over photographs. I mean painting a projected image.

Odds are it is painted on masonite or a similar material. I don't think it would be a painting on a photo; those are usually very transparent washes of paint so you can see the photographic details through the color.